PANCREATIC CANCER AWARENESS WEEK

16th November 2009

 

Press Briefing on Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Week

November 16th - 22nd 2009

1. Pancreatic cancer is a silent killer.

 It is difficult to diagnose and when it is diagnosed, it is often in the advanced stages. There are few treatment options. Consequently, most patients find that they have untreatable terminal cancer. This awareness week is designed to start making the UK public more aware of a deadly killer which needs more resources for existing patients and for research.

     A. Pancreatic cancer is the 5th commonest cause of cancer death in the UK

     B. There has been no improvement in the overall survival rate in the past 40 years. Only 3% of those diagnosed are still alive five years after diagnosis.

     C. Pancreatic cancer is under resourced in research and treatment compared to other common cancers

2. Background information

What is the pancreas?

The pancreas is a gland about 6 inches long, shaped like a thin pear lying on its side. The wider end of the pancreas is called the head, the middle section is called the body, and the narrow end is called the tail. The pancreas is in a deep location and lies behind the stomach and in front of the spine. It has two main jobs in the body, to produce:
~ digestive enzymes that help digest (break down) food.
~ hormones, such as insulin and glucagon, that help control blood sugar levels. These hormones help the body use and store the energy it gets from food.

Exocrine pancreas cells produce the digestive juices and endocrine pancreas cells produce the hormones.

What is Pancreatic Cancer?

The term pancreatic cancer usually refers to the common pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, although there is a large variety of other exocrine tumour types with varying prognoses. About 95% of tumours begin in exocrine cells.

Pancreatic cancer usually arises in the head of the pancreas(80%) and less commonly in the body(15%) and tail(5%). Worldwide there are around 250,000 new cases each year; in Europe more than 70,000 are diagnosed, while in the States there are 32,000. In the UK, around 7,660 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year, split roughly equally between men and women.
Depending on the extent of the tumour at the time of diagnosis, the prognosis is generally regarded as poor. By the time of diagnosis, the majority of patients have advanced disease and so are ineligible for surgery (resection). The average survival time between diagnosis and death is 6 - 12 months.

Around 10% of patients are suitable for surgery to remove the tumour along with part of the pancreas Median survival following surgery for pancreatic cancer is gradually improving, particularly using combination treatments with chemotherapy, but is still only 20-24 mths . The five-year survival for this group ranges from 7-15%.

Symptoms of pancreatic cancer

Pancreatic cancer is sometimes called a "silent cancer" because there are generally few symptoms in the early stages, and those that are present can be non-specific and vague.
Common symptoms can include:
     ~ painless jaundice (yellow skin/eyes, dark urine) related to bile duct obstruction
     ~ significant and unexplained weight loss;
     ~ new onset of abdominal discomfort.

All of these symptoms can have multiple other causes, and there is not yet a reliable diagnostic test for pancreatic cancer. Therefore, pancreatic cancer is often not diagnosed until it is advanced.

In addition, pancreatic cancer has a limited response to traditional chemotherapy. Consequently, the prognosis for most patients is poor.

The purpose of this awareness week is to raise the profile of pancreatic cancer among the UK public and start a campaign to increase the resources for care of existing pancreatic cancer patients and for research into early detection and more effective treatments.

Please click here to view the press release for detailed Charity and web contact information.

 

‘The Silent Cancer' will be aired on 16th, 18th, 20th and 22nd November at 21:00 and 3.00
Community Channel: Sky 539 Virgin TV 233 Freeview 87

Please help us CHANGE THE NUMBERS for pancreatic cancer