The symptoms and risk factors are still too little known, which is why, for more than half of patients affected by pancreatic cancer, the diagnosis comes late, when, unfortunately, the clinical picture is already strongly compromised. Estimates for 2021 describe an increasing trend in deaths and diagnoses: according to AIOM’s cancer numbers in Italy about 12,900 deaths and a 3% increase in diagnoses for men and 3.4% for women, in particularly from 70 years upwards. In the sad list of causes of cancer death, today that from pancreatic cancer occupies the third position but is on the way to becoming second, surpassing that of colorectal cancer, behind that of lung cancer. And although more funds available would help both to increase early diagnosis and with them the chances of operability and to develop new drugs, less than 2% of all cancer research funding in Europe goes to this type of cancer.
Countryside
On the occasion of World Pancreatic Cancer Day, which is celebrated on 18 November, the main patient associations (Nadia Valsecchi Foundation, Oltre la Ricerca ODV, Codice Viola, Nastro Viola, Associazione Pierluigi Natalucci Together for Art and Science, My Everest, AISP, Italian Association of Pancreas Study) promote #ItsAboutTime, the hashtag that accompanies the campaign promoted by the World Pancreatic Cancer Coalition to inform public opinion and raise awareness of institutions on the need to improve patients’ conditions, knowledge of symptoms and risk factors, and to increase funding for scientific research.
Patient requests
Today, pancreatic cancer therapy consists of two pillars, chemotherapy and surgery. The latter in particular can be very useful, but also very harmful, if the Center to which one is addressed is not specialized. The most serious risk, in fact, is precisely the operative mortality which varies a lot on the national territory, going from 2% to reaching peaks of 25%, the associations report. That is why they ask the regional councilors from all over Italy to adjust investments and set up the Pancreas Units, the centers selected with multidisciplinary teams of specialists to treat the disease with competence and promptness. Having a point of reference in each Region would in fact mean reducing both the costs to be incurred for citizens and the disparity in the quality of treatments. This and more will be discussed on November 18 starting at 7.00 pm in the live streaming organized by the patient associations, which can be accessed through the Facebook page “World Pancreatic Cancer Day”.
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