Why you should know about pancreatic cancer

(BPT) - When you hear the word cancer, which cancers come to mind?

Did you think breast, lung and maybe colon cancers? You’re not alone. According to the Global Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Omnibus Survey, when people across the nation were asked the same question, breast and lung cancer were the most frequent responses. Pancreatic cancer was rarely mentioned. While this may not be surprising, the need to improve awareness of pancreatic cancer is needed. Here’s why:

* According to the American Cancer Society and the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, pancreatic cancer is the only major cancer with increasing death rates and is expected to be the second highest cause of cancer death by 2020. Just one-quarter of all patients with pancreatic cancer survive for one year following diagnosis.

* Early symptoms of pancreatic cancer can be similar to those of many other diseases, and there are no screening tests or other simple methods of diagnosing pancreatic cancer in its early stages.

* In at least one half of patients, diagnosis of pancreatic cancer does not usually occur until it is at an advanced stage or has spread to other parts of the body (metastasized), which usually translates into approximately three months or less to live.

* For many years there was little innovation in the development of new treatments, but in the last few years there have been some advances in treatment.

This is why pancreatic cancer patient advocacy groups around the world supported the first-ever World Pancreatic Cancer Day on Nov. 13. The goal was to raise the low level of awareness and understanding about this leading cancer killer.

To help do this, Celgene, a leading biopharmaceutical company, has shared the findings from the Global Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Omnibus Survey, conducted by Ipsos in early 2014 among more than 7000 adults in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. The survey found both a need for and support for increased education and awareness about cancer overall, as well as pancreatic cancer.

Among those surveyed in the U.S., 49 percent claimed to know almost nothing about pancreatic cancer, which was the first cancer that came to mind in only 2 percent of that group when asked, unaided, which specific cancers are top of mind. Yet, when the same group was made aware of the poor survival associated with pancreatic cancer, more than 70 percent indicated support for more education about pancreatic cancer.

According to Julie Fleshman, president and chief executive officer, Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, a lot more can and should be done to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer and to advocate for additional resources for research. She added, “It’s clear that when people understand the seriousness of pancreatic cancer they want to take action. The first-ever World Pancreatic Cancer Day set by the global pancreatic cancer advocacy community offered the perfect opportunity to start turning this aspiration into a global effort to raise awareness about pancreatic cancer and make a difference in the lives of those diagnosed with this cancer.”

The survey also identified priority goals of a public awareness campaign. In the U.S., the top two priority goals of a public awareness campaign were supporting ways to increase screening and earlier diagnosis, identified by 60 percent of respondents, and more research to prevent pancreatic cancer, identified by 44 percent of those surveyed. Importantly, one half of all respondents indicated they would take some action to support public awareness of pancreatic cancer, with 54 percent of U.S. respondents indicating this. Some of these actions would include donating money, participating in an annual fundraising event and actively volunteering time to a support group.

Working alongside pancreatic cancer patient advocacy groups, Celgene is embarking on a global social media campaign to jumpstart efforts to call attention to pancreatic cancer. According to Markus Renschler, MD, Senior Vice President and Global Head, Hematology & Oncology for Celgene, “Celgene is proud to be a partnering with pancreatic cancer organizations around the world to raise awareness about the disease and the progress made thus far against this deadly cancer. Putting a dent in the rather grim pancreatic cancer statistics will be challenging, but with appropriate treatment and the more than 170 global clinical trials evaluating investigational treatments in approximately 35,000 patients, we believe outcomes can be improved for patients with this deadly disease.”

For more information and to learn what you can do to help raise awareness about pancreatic cancer visit www.worldpancreaticcancerday.org and use #WPCD2014, #WorldPancreaticCancerDay in social media posts.