Pancreatic cancer was in the news this week for all the reasons we dread most.
Scientist Ralph Steinman died from pancreatic cancer just three days before the announcement was made that he had won the Nobel Prize for medicine. A pioneer in understanding how cells fight disease, Steinman was using his own research and discoveries in his battle with pancreatic cancer.
The passing of Steve Jobs from a rare form of pancreatic cancer (pancreatic neuroendocrine tumor) devastated everyone who believed that if anyone could beat the odds, he could. That he fought for nearly eight years upon being diagnosed with this rare form of cancer and still managed to remain at the forefront of altering our culture and technology is a testament to the fight he endured.
These two most recent public deaths involving pancreatic cancer are a stark reminder of the severity of this deadly disease.
It becomes easy to understand why races and walks comprised of pancreatic cancer survivors who beat the disease will not take place anytime soon.
The five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is only 6 percent. For 40 years, this survival rate has remained in the single digits, despite the increase in those being diagnosed, and despite the fact that it is the fourth-leading cause of cancer death. This year, 44,000 Americans will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Of those, close to 38,000 will die from the disease.
There are no conclusive tests for early diagnosis, there are no effective treatments, and there is no cure.
Pancreatic cancer is the most underfunded, under-recognized and least studied of all major cancer killers, receiving only 2 percent of the National Cancer Institute’s research budget. That scientist Steinman was using his own research in his battle with pancreatic cancer provides heartbreaking insight into how slim the arsenal is in fighting this disease. As breast cancer was years ago, pancreatic cancer remains in the shadows when it comes to awareness and research funding, a fact that cuts through the hearts of those who have lost loved ones to this horrific disease.
While legislation is pending before Congress that will implement better targeted research, the national Pancreatic Cancer Action Network continues investing in a research strategy that will advance early diagnostics, more effective treatments and increase chances of survival.
In mid-2009, I lost my brother to pancreatic cancer after his four-year battle with a disease that proved relentless in its tortuous power. Several months after he died, my mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and passed away three months later.
After losses this profound and close to each other, it is almost as if you must learn how to walk and breathe all over again. But there comes a moment in the midst of grief where you are compelled to do something, for the loved ones lost, and for those who have been, who are or who will be forced on that same dark journey.
In honor of my mother and brother, I am organizing a benefit to help raise awareness and increased research funding for pancreatic cancer. The Wings of Hope benefit will be held Oct. 22 at Wings Over The Rockies Air & Space Museum. For more information, go to .
As pancreatic cancer continues its steady and shattering assault on families, we must make it a national priority and give patients a fighting chance. The statistics can and must change.
There come events in our lives that demand of us more than being a bystander in the bleachers doing nothing. This is that moment, for all of us.
Former Castle Pines Mayor Maureen A. Shul is a volunteer with the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.
