It is unacceptable in this day and age that there is a cancer for which the relative five-year survival rate is still in the single digits.
It is particularly unacceptable when you consider that the overall five-year relative survival for all cancers is now 67 percent and the overall cancer incidence and death rates are declining, while the incidence and death rates for pancreatic cancer, the nation's fourth-leading cause of cancer-related death, are increasing.
Pancreatic cancer has the lowest five-year survival rate of any major cancer at just 6 percent. This year, this terrible disease will claim the lives of 1,940 people in Pennsylvania.
Pancreatic cancer patients and their loved ones cannot wait any longer.
It is essential that we make research into pancreatic cancer a priority in this country so that real progress can be made toward better treatment options, early detection and a cure.
I am a volunteer for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network in Pennsylvania. November is National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.
In March of 2012, I lost my husband of 49 years after a five-month battle with pancreatic cancer.
We must raise awareness about this devastating disease and encourage our elected officials to make fighting pancreatic cancer a priority.
We must support our fellow citizens who have been afflicted by this disease and advocate for greater awareness and more resources to fight pancreatic cancer.
Pauline Schill, Ebensburg
