Familial pancreatic cancer refers to two or more first-degree relatives (a parent, sibling, or child) who have been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Several conditions can be passed down from parent to child that make a person more likely to get pancreatic cancer, including:

• BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations
• Familial atypical multiple mole melanoma syndrome, which is caused by mutations in the CDKN2A/p16 gene and increases the risk of developing melanoma and pancreatic cancer
• Peutz-Jeghers syndrome
• Lynch syndrome
• PALB2 mutations
• ATM mutations
• Hereditary pancreatitis, which is caused by mutations in the PRSS1, SPINK1, CFTR (cystic fibrosis), or CTRC genes and increases the risk of having multiple episodes of pancreatitis and developing pancreatic cancer