BRCA1 and cancer: People with cancer-predisposing BRCA variants have an increased risk of developing pancreatic cancer: a retrospective cohort analysis of a high-risk breast cancer family registry from the US, Canada and Australia estimated that pancreatic cancer risk is five to six times higher than population risk for people with cancer-predisposing BRCA2 variants and around four times higher for people with cancer-predisposing BRCA1 variants(8).