AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT TO PANCREATIC CANCER RESEARCH AND FUNDING IS AWARENESS

You can become an advocate in many ways!

1. Know the FactHere is a list of important Pancreatic Cancer facts with which you can become familiar and educate others:

• Pancreatic Cancer has the #1 fatality rate of all cancers.
• Pancreatic Cancer is the 3rd leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. Statistics have worsened, since 2011 when pancreas cancer ranked 4th.
• Approximately 60,430 people will be diagnosed with Pancreatic Cancer this year in the United States and approximately 48,220  (a 5% increase over last year) will die from pancreatic cancer.
• Only 10% of Pancreatic Cancer patients will survive beyond 5 years.
• There are no early warning signs.  Symptoms are often confused with other diseases.
• 90.6% of patients with Pancreatic Cancer have advanced stage disease at diagnosis and are not candidates for surgical intervention.
• Five-year survival rates approach 29.3% if the cancer is found/diagnosed in the localized stage (confined to it’s primary site). Some tumor can be surgically removed while they are still small and have not spread to the lymph nodes.  9.4% of tumors are diagnosed at the localized stage.
• Five-Year survival rates decrease dramatically once the disease begins to spread.
• -Regional Stage (spread to lymph nodes): 11.1%
• -Distant Stage (metastasized): 2.6%
• -Unknown/Unstaged: 4.9%
• There are no reliable screening tests for early detection of Pancreatic Cancer.
• 95% of pancreas cancer tumors are exocrine in nature (meaning the tumors do not secrete any hormones and therefore do not cause any signs or symptoms of its existence.
• Surgery, radiation and chemotherapies are treatment options that can extend survival and/or relieve symptoms in these patients, but seldom produce a cure.
• Despite the high mortality rate, the federal government spends very little on Pancreatic Cancer research. National Institutes of Health Spending Statistics
• -2015 $174M, 3.2% of NIH Cancer Research Budget of $5.4B
• -2016 Estimated, $181M, 3.2% of NIH Cancer Research Budget of $5.7B
• -2017 Estimated, $181M, 3.1% of NIH Cancer Research Budget of $5.6B
• -2018 Estimated 182M, 3.2% of the NIH Cancer Research Budget of 5.9B
• Learn about the Statistics from the National Cancer Institute and the American Cancer Society
• People with two or more relatives who have had pancreatic cancer are at an increased risk of developing the disease. (see National Familial Pancreas Tumor Registry)

2. Join the National Familial Pancreas Tumor Registry at Johns Hopkins.

The NFPTR is a research study aimed at identifying the causes of pancreatic cancer. This research will enable the early detection of pancreas cancer and lead to improved treatment of this disease, saving lives. The addition of more families to our study is critical to continue our progress.

Learn More: http://pathology.jhu.edu/pancreas/nfptr/index.php

3.  Sponsor or volunteer at an event in your area.

4. Start a JCM “Join The Fight” Team in your area

5.  Make a tax-deductible donation.

The JCM Foundation is a 501(c)3 organization.  Please indicate if the donation is in someone’s honor or memory.

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Mail donation to:
JCM Foundation
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Naperville, IL 60563

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