My Dad passed away on 7/22/09! My Mom, Sister, and I were at his side.
Here are the basics...
Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death overall, according to the American Cancer Society. An estimated 42,470 people will be diagnosed with cancer of the pancreas during 2009, and pancreatic cancer will claim the lives of an est 42,000 of those people in the U.S. this year. It is almost always fatal, with a five-year survival rate of just 5 percent, according to the National Cancer Institute.
Opera great Luciano Pavarotti, Comedian Bill Hicks, and actor Michael Landon died of Pancreatic Cancer. Michael Landon died only two months after he was diagnosed. Most recently this year NBA Hall of Fame Coach Chuck Daly, Patrick Swayze, NFL Hall of Famer Gene Upshaw, The disease has also killed several family members of former President Jimmy Carter, as reported last year in The Times. And the list continues.
But despite striking the famous, the disease gets comparatively less attention than other cancers. Pancreatic cancer research is funded at far lower levels than other forms of cancer. Although nearly as many people die of pancreatic cancer as breast cancer, funding from the National Cancer Institute amounts to just 15 percent of the funding for breast cancer.
Pancreatic cancer is so deadly because it is difficult to detect, early to metastasize. It is among the most aggressive of all cancers. By the time that pancreatic cancer is diagnosed, most people already have the disease that has spread to distant sites in the body. Pancreatic cancer is also relatively resistant to medical treatment, and the only potentially curative treatment is surgery. In 2009, approximately 31,800 people in the United States were diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer, and approximately 31,200 people died of this disease. These numbers reflect the challenge in treating pancreatic cancer and the relative lack of curative options.
For information log onto:www.pancan.org (If it weren't for this site and the wonderful people working there, we'd be lost and alone in this)
Here are the basics...
Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death overall, according to the American Cancer Society. An estimated 42,470 people will be diagnosed with cancer of the pancreas during 2009, and pancreatic cancer will claim the lives of an est 42,000 of those people in the U.S. this year. It is almost always fatal, with a five-year survival rate of just 5 percent, according to the National Cancer Institute.
Opera great Luciano Pavarotti, Comedian Bill Hicks, and actor Michael Landon died of Pancreatic Cancer. Michael Landon died only two months after he was diagnosed. Most recently this year NBA Hall of Fame Coach Chuck Daly, Patrick Swayze, NFL Hall of Famer Gene Upshaw, The disease has also killed several family members of former President Jimmy Carter, as reported last year in The Times. And the list continues.
But despite striking the famous, the disease gets comparatively less attention than other cancers. Pancreatic cancer research is funded at far lower levels than other forms of cancer. Although nearly as many people die of pancreatic cancer as breast cancer, funding from the National Cancer Institute amounts to just 15 percent of the funding for breast cancer.
Pancreatic cancer is so deadly because it is difficult to detect, early to metastasize. It is among the most aggressive of all cancers. By the time that pancreatic cancer is diagnosed, most people already have the disease that has spread to distant sites in the body. Pancreatic cancer is also relatively resistant to medical treatment, and the only potentially curative treatment is surgery. In 2009, approximately 31,800 people in the United States were diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer, and approximately 31,200 people died of this disease. These numbers reflect the challenge in treating pancreatic cancer and the relative lack of curative options.
For information log onto:www.pancan.org (If it weren't for this site and the wonderful people working there, we'd be lost and alone in this)
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XOXO, Gretchen