Pancreatic Cancer

Cancer is a terrible disease, but Pancreatic Cancer is the worst of them all. Here are some statistics:

• The median survival after diagnosis is 3 to 6 months^[1]
• 3 out of 4 patients with pancreatic cancer will die within one year of their diagnosis.^[2]
• The 5-year survival rate is less than 5%^[1]
• The lifetime probability of developing pancreatic cancer is approximately 1 in 79^[2]

What is the Pancreas?
The pancreas is an organ that produces important hormones as well as digestive enzymes. It is tucked in below and behind the stomach and the small intestine. It is connected to other organs by various ducts. For a better and more detailed description, click here.

Pancreatic Cancer
Pancreatic cancer is particularly aggressive for three reasons. First, most patients do not feel any symptoms until the cancer is far advanced and there is no reliable early detection screening test. Second, pancreatic cancer has a tendency to spread rapidly to other organs in the body. Finally, pancreatic cancer does not respond well to any of our current available treatments.
Despite being the fourth largest cause of cancer death, research into pancreatic cancer treatment is woefully underfunded. Survival rates have not improved in thirty years. In the US, pancreatic cancer research only accounts for 2% of all cancer research. ^[2]
This horrible disease snatched away our colleague and friend Virge-Kai Lindaja. We strongly urge you to consider supporting pancreatic cancer research to help develop an early screening test as well as to develop more effective treatments. Please visit Pancreatic Cancer Canada to learn more.