JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Cancer of the pancreas is one of the deadliest cancers, largely due to the lack of early symptoms. But there is hope and progress being made, albeit at a slow pace.
The five-year survival rate was less than ten percent 10 years ago but has now increased to 14-18 percent. But there is still a lot of work to be done, as the survival rate beyond five years is less than 3 percent.
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The Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, is trying to increase the odds of beating pancreatic cancer. Ashton Boyle is a lead oncology PA and says the medical community has to do better: “Fifty percent of patients with pancreas cancer won’t ever get an oncology referral; they get a hospice referral - that’s a disservice to patients with pancreas cancer.” But Boyle says there is hope as doctors have pinpointed a genetic alteration that is a consistent signal in patients battling cancer of the pancreas.
“Such as KRAS, which about 90% of pancreas cancer patients have, and so if we can throw off that driver mutation, we certainly would be able to prolong a lot of patients’ lives. Early stage trials show some potentially optimistic outcomes.”
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Chief Meteorologist Mike Buresh sat down with the Roth’s in Jacksonville. Richard was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer of the pancreas and is defying the odds. 8 years later, Richard is **cancer-free**. Their story is a medical miracle full of love, faith, perseverance, dedication & determination.
Mike has his own personal story when it comes to pancreatic cancer. Connie, Mike’s mom, fought a valiant, graceful battle for a short 9 months when she was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer of the pancreas in 2007.
Read: “A Very Personal Journey: My mom’s battle against terminal cancer”
For more information about pancreatic cancer, go to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCan): https://pancan.org/
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