What You Need to Know About Pancreatic Cancer

Posted by sandlerkenner on November 2nd, 2014

Pancreatic cancer is not the most well-known form of this disease, nor is it the most publicized. If recent trends continue, however, that will change in the very near future. With an estimated 1 in 78 people on course for a diagnosis at some point in their lifetimes, pancreatic cancer is anticipated to become the second leading form of this disease by the year 2020.

As it stands right now, pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in America. An estimated 45,000 people are diagnosed with this disease on an annual basis. Because early diagnosis is often troublesome, the survival rate for this particular form of cancer is also quite low.

Here are a few things everyone should know about pancreatic cancer:

• The disease has the highest mortality rate of all forms of cancer. An estimated 74 percent of people diagnosed with the disease lose their battle within the first year of diagnosis. The survivability rate has remained unchanged for the past 40 years as new tools to fight this form of cancer have not come to fruition.
• The symptoms of pancreatic cancer are extremely vague, which makes it especially troublesome to diagnosis. They include such things as abdominal pain, back pain, weight loss, bowel changes, diabetes development, and jaundice. Since these symptoms can all mimic other conditions, the disease is often left undetected for quite some time.
• There are a number of risk factors for pancreatic cancer. They include family history, diabetes, poor diet, alcohol, and tobacco use.
• Pancreatic cancer research is highly underfunded. This disease only gets a sliver of the funding raised each year for all cancers. That is why donating to pancreatic-cancer specific foundations can be especially critical.

Pancreatic cancer is on track to outpace other forms of the disease in regard to the number of cases diagnosed each year. Even so, funding for research is rather small. Foundations dedicated to this cause are working to change that.

About Author
The Sandler-Kenner Foundation was started by Gregory A. Echt, M.D. and his wife, Susan T. Echt, after they lost two of their dear friends, Michael and Peter, to premature deaths from pancreatic cancer.