For the first time ever, the five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer has reached double digits.
American Cancer Society’s Cancer Facts & Figures,
released today, reports that the five-year survival rate has increased to 10%*.
“I am extremely proud that PanCAN was willing to take the lead
and put a stake in the ground to set an ambitious goal to double pancreatic
cancer survival by 2020. To reach double digits is a tremendous milestone and
sets the stage for what’s to come in our efforts against the world’s toughest
cancer,” said Julie Fleshman, JD, MBA, president and CEO of the Pancreatic Cancer Action
Network (PanCAN).
PanCAN set the goal in 2011 to double pancreatic cancer survival
by 2020. At the time, the five-year survival rate was just 6%.
“The entire community of pancreatic cancer researchers, healthcare professionals, volunteers and advocates rallied
around our 2020 goal and worked together to accelerate progress against the
world’s toughest cancer, and we are so grateful for their dedication and
diligent efforts,” Fleshman said.
Improvement in the survival rate is critical, because the Facts
& Figures report also reveals that more people will be diagnosed
with pancreatic cancer than ever before.
In 2020, an estimated 57,600 Americans will be diagnosed with
pancreatic cancer. Approximately 47,050 Americans are expected to die from the
disease this year.
Pancreatic cancer is the 11th most commonly diagnosed cancer in
the U.S., but it’s the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths.
“These new statistics underscore the urgency of continuing to
focus research, funding and
attention on this disease and its threat to society,” Fleshman said.
Since its founding in 1999, PanCAN has taken a comprehensive approach to
attack pancreatic cancer on all fronts: research, clinical initiatives, patient services and advocacy.
“Seeing the pancreatic cancer survival rate rise to 10% is
evidence our strategies are working,” Fleshman said. “Since declaring our goal
to double survival, we’ve taken critical steps to advance research and
introduce innovative programs and services to directly support patients.”
![The five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer has reached 10% for the first time](file:///C:/Users/JOHN~1.DUB/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image002.png)
A key example is PanCAN’s Know Your Tumor® precision medicine service, launched
in 2014 to determine whether patients’ tumor biology can impact their treatment
decisions and outcomes.
Fleshman recalled, “We were met with skepticism from the
scientific and medical communities that testing of pancreatic cancer
patients’ tumors wouldn’t provide clinically useful
information.”
Today, one out of every four patients who receive personalized
Know Your Tumor reports find out about “actionable” findings – results that can
influence that patient’s treatment options.
Further evidence has shown that patients with actionable
findings who go on therapy that matches their biological characteristics have better outcomes.
In fact, Lynparza® (olaparib), a targeted therapy, just received FDA approval in late
December to treat subsets of pancreatic cancer patients who were born
with BRCA mutations. Patients won’t know if they qualify for
Lynparza or certain other therapies without undergoing the appropriate testing.
“Today, these tests are standard practice and recommended
in major clinical guidelines – thanks in part to
PanCAN’s published positive results and our willingness to take a risk by
launching this leading-edge initiative,” Fleshman said.
In addition, since PanCAN declared its goal to double pancreatic
cancer survival, there are now nine new treatment options that can benefit patients with
pancreatic cancer.
These treatment advances were made possible by patients
participating in clinical trials. PanCAN strongly recommends clinical
trials at diagnosis and during every treatment decision –
throughout January, National Pancreatic Cancer Clinical Trials Awareness Month
– and year-round.
Patients, caregivers and healthcare professionals can receive
personalized clinical trials information through PanCAN’s Patient Central, which maintains the most comprehensive
and up-to-date database of pancreatic cancer clinical trials available in the
United States.
It’s important to note that in order to calculate the five-year
survival rate, NCI’s SEER team followed patients through 2016. So, more recent
advancements and the impact of newly approved treatment options are not
reflected in this year’s calculations.
“We’ve come so far with our goal to double survival by 2020,”
Fleshman said. “This sets the stage for what’s to come in the next decade as we
accelerate progress with new initiatives, including PanCAN’s Precision PromiseSM adaptive
clinical trial and other efforts to improve treatment options and move toward
effective early detection strategies.”
She continued, “Without the generosity of compassionate donors,
none of these advancements would have been possible. With continued donations,
imagine what the next decade holds for pancreatic cancer patients.”
![Contact a Patient Central Associate](file:///C:/Users/JOHN~1.DUB/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtmlclip1/01/clip_image004.png)
Donate today so PanCAN can continue to support
lifesaving research, conduct innovative clinical and scientific initiatives and
support the almost 58,000 Americans expected to be diagnosed with pancreatic
cancer in 2020.
*Rates are adjusted for normal life expectancy and are based on
cases diagnosed in the SEER 9 areas from 2009 to 2015, followed through 2016
(table 7).
No comments:
Post a Comment