Gentiluomo M, Katzke VA, Kaaks R, et al. - Given mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number in peripheral blood has been identified to be related to the risk of developing various cancers, but there exists very limited data on pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), so, researchers addressed this subject in this study with 476 PDAC cases and 357 controls nested within the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC) cohort. They analyzed peripheral leukocyte samples to ascertain relative mtDNA copy number. With advancing age and with a high BMI level, a lower mtDNA copy number was seen, and there was no link with gender, smoking behavior, and alcohol intake. A link was identified between increased mtDNA copy number and reduced risk of PDAC occurrence, with an odds ratios (OR) of 0.35 when contrasting the fifth quintile with the first employing an unconditional logistic regression and an OR of 0.19 with a conditional analysis. Overall, findings indicated that a higher number of mitochondria, measured in peripheral blood leukocytes, confers a protective effect on the risk of developing PDAC.