Background: Pancreatic cancer (PC) is still a major health problem worldwide. Little is known about the etiology of pancreatic cancer as an important cause of cancer mortality in developed countries.

Materials and Methods: In this study, we measured the serum Zn, Se, Cu and Cd levels of PC patients compared to healthy subjects from the same region in Iran, using atomic absorption spectrometry. We have also examined the contributions of age, sex and smoking status to overall risk for PC.

Results: In this case-control study, a significant difference in both Zn and Cd levels was observed between PC and control group (P<0.001 and P<0.0001, respectively). Zn level in Pc cases was 63.12±26.45 μg/dL and this value was found statistically lower compared to the controls (107.05±30.23 μg/dl). The mean concentration of Cd in patients (3.10±1.05 μg/l) was higher than the healthy subjects (1.52±0.88 μg/l). Moreover, no significant difference was observed for Se and Cu between the two groups (P>0.05). Taking into consideration the sex of the subjects, a significant decrease in serum Zn levels of PC patients was observed in females compared to males (P<0.01).

Conclusion: We found that Cd is a plausible pancreatic carcinogen. In addition, a significant relationship between Zn metabolism and PC is suggested.