Pancreatic cancer is one of the few cancers for which survival has not improved substantially over the past four decades
By William Wan William Wan National correspondent covering health, science and news Email Bio Follow March 7 at 11:47 AM Alex Trebek ended his announcement Wednesday that he has Stage 4 pancreatic cancer with a somber vow.
What makes pancreatic cancer particularly deadly and difficult to treat is that the disease is often diagnosed too late. Tumors in the pancreas often don’t exhibit major symptoms until the cancer has already reached advanced stages. “The primary way to deal with most cancers is to cut them out," said Valerie Lee, an oncologist at Johns Hopkins Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Center. ”But with pancreatic cancer, only 10 to 20 percent of patients are even eligible for surgery. That leaves chemotherapy, which is not curative. It mainly extends the time you have left."
While doctors and researchers have made tremendous progress with other forms of cancers, pancreatic cancer has remained one of the few for which survival has not improved substantially over the past four decades. Over nearly a quarter-century, the overall cancer mortality rate has fallen 26 percent, resulting in almost 2.4 million fewer deaths than if peak rates had continued. Last year, a new report by the American Cancer Society showed the overall cancer death rate had declined again by 1.
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