Charity calls for more awareness of pancreatic cancer
Almost 90% of people with the illness are diagnosed too late for curative treatment
Pancreatic cancer is known as being one of the most deadliest cancers, and a leading charity wants more awareness to be raised to encourage us to check for symptoms. Pancreatic Cancer Action has recently worked with researchers at the University of Oxford, who have discovered that people with diabetes, who had weight loss, were more likely to get the illness. They are hoping that the findings will result in people spotting the signs a lot earlier.
New research by the charity has also revealed that symptoms are often misinterpreted, misdiagnosed or ignored completely. 92% of those polled said they would be more likely to seek help for what they consider to be classic cancer symptoms such as a lump, whereas the symptoms of pancreatic cancer often go unnoticed until it is too late.
Dan Godley,29, from South Cheshire is currently receiving treatment. He says, "The thing you always get is 'it's very unlikely to be pancreatic cancer, or cancer of any sort'. I think some of it is a lack of awareness, but some of it is just an assumption that, because I'm so young, it just can't be that"
Ali Stunt, Founder and CEO of Pancreatic Cancer Action, says, "This research shows we have a window of opportunity to identify pancreatic cancers at a much earlier stage for those 1/3 of patients who present with new-onset diabetes one to three years before diagnosis."
November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness month.