Abstract
All known inflammatory diseases of the pancreas, i.e., acute, chronic, hereditary, and autoimmune pancreatitis, carry a higher risk of developing pancreatic cancer. The risk is highest in hereditary and chronic pancreatitis and lowest in acute and autoimmune pancreatitis. Although established risk factors such as smoking have been known for decades, obesity, diabetes mellitus, and pancreatic exocrine insufficiency have emerged. In addition, the microbiome/use of antibiotics and microplastic are novel risk factors for the development of pancreatic cancer that have not been explored.