Staggering Statistics

So as I recently mentioned, Pancreatic Cancer is one of the most deadliest forms of cancer out there... It's extremely difficult for people to have faith and hold onto hope when they know this fact going in. I firmly believe that a big part of this is lack of funding... as you'll be able to gather from the last two statistics on the list. So what better way to tackle this problem than head on? Donating directly to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network will ensure that funds go directly toward the research specifically for pancreatic cancer. The more we raise, the brighter the future looks.

PANCREATIC CANCER FACTS

An estimated 46,420 Americans will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the U.S., and over 39,590 will die from the disease. Pancreatic cancer is one of the few cancers for which survival has not improved substantially over nearly 40 years. Pancreatic cancer is the 4th leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States. Pancreatic cancer has the highest mortality rate of all major cancers. 94% of pancreatic cancer patients will die within five years of diagnosis – only 6% will survive more than five years. 74% of patients die within the first year of diagnosis. The average life expectancy after diagnosis with metastatic disease is just three to six months. Few risk factors for developing pancreatic cancer are defined. Family history of the disease, smoking, age, and diabetes are risk factors. Pancreatic cancer may cause only vague symptoms that could indicate many different conditions within the abdomen or gastrointestinal tract. Symptoms include pain (usually abdominal or back pain), weight loss, jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes), loss of appetite, nausea, changes in stool, and diabetes. Treatment options for pancreatic cancer are limited. Surgical removal of the tumor is possible in less than 20% of patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Chemotherapy or chemotherapy together with radiation is typically offered to patients whose tumors cannot be removed surgically. Pancreatic cancer is a leading cause of cancer death largely because there are no detection tools to diagnose the disease in its early stages when surgical removal of the tumor is still possible. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) spent an estimated $105.3 million on pancreatic cancer research in 2012. This represented a mere 1.8% of the NCI’s approximate $5.8 billion cancer research budget for that year. Source for statistics: American Cancer Society: Cancer Facts & Figures 2014 and NCI Annual Plan & Budget Proposal For Fiscal Year 2012. http://www.pancreatic.org/site/c.htJYJ8MPIwE/b.5050503/k.40C9/Pancreatic_Cancer_Facts.htm