Irish Cancer Society calls for greater awareness of signs and symptoms this World Pancreatic Cancer Day
Early diagnosis crucial in the fight against this disease
Early diagnosis is key to ensuring more people survive pancreatic cancer, the Irish Cancer Society has said as the organisation marks World Pancreatic Cancer Day today.
New figures estimate that around 565 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in Ireland every year. Sadly, though, the disease is often diagnosed late, largely due to a lack of awareness of its signs and symptoms.
The risk factors associated with pancreatic cancer are vague and this could be another explanation for this disease often being diagnosed at a late stage.
Joan Kelly, Cancer Support Manager at the Irish Cancer Society said: “Days like World Pancreatic Cancer Day are important as they shine a light on the difficulties people with this disease face, and what we can all do to ensure more lives are saved.
“This year, World Pancreatic Cancer Day is particularly poignant here as we learn this week that former Ireland international soccer star Liam Miller has been diagnosed with the disease. We wish him the very best in his treatment.
“Sadly, Liam is one of more than 500 people in the country that will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year. A large proportion of these people, however, are diagnosed too late for treatment to be effective.
“Early detection saves lives. But tumours in less accessible sites like the pancreas mean that patients often present to an emergency setting with a medical concern, after which the diagnosis of cancer is made.
“Pancreatic cancer has one of the lowest 10-year survival rates of all cancers with less than 8 in every 100 people surviving 10 years or more. Most patients present at advanced stages of the disease, meaning that curative treatment is often very difficult and there is a huge need for identification of improved diagnosis and treatments.
“While fantastic work is being done in the national centres for treating this cancer, St. Vincent’s and in Cork University Hospital in terms of treatment advancements, it is vital that we also focus on early detection and research, and work towards bringing the numbers being diagnosed at Stage IV down, and those survival rates up.”
Pancreatic cancer has one of the lowest survival rates of all cancers with just under four in five people dying within a year of diagnosis. These figures are much starker as time goes on with more than nine in ten pancreatic cancer patients dying within five years.
Chris Conlon, husband to Mary and dad to Lou, Paul and Laura was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2009, and passed away just nine weeks after, aged just 51. The Conlon family added, “Chris was the light of our lives, a very special man. Unfortunately, he spent most of his illness in an emergency department, having been sent there by his GP after presenting with sore and swollen legs. Our experience as a family was very brutal and very fast, involving many nights on trolleys in A&E and while it was awful losing our Dad, there would have been more support, and knowledge for us all if he had been treated in a palliative setting.
“The vast majority of pancreatic cancers are diagnosed late, and we see way too many deaths from it. It is so important that we use days like this to highlight the signs and symptoms of the disease and urge people to be aware. Once Chris was diagnosed, we as a family looked back at the previous 12 months through a very different lens, remembering all the times he actually was sick, and remembering all the symptoms we didn’t properly address, attributing temperatures, colds and common complaints to every day stresses. Hopefully, more awareness of this disease will mean less people presenting in an emergency setting and having a much brighter outcome. Chris will always be so much more to us and everyone who knew and loved him than just a victim of pancreatic cancer, so if we can help encourage people towards early detection, some good would come of our tremendous loss”
Research, commissioned by the Irish Cancer Society and undertaken by the National Cancer Registry of Ireland (NCRI), has shown that pancreatic cancer is the cancer with the highest proportion of cases diagnosed through hospital Emergency Departments (EDs). 1 in 3 people with pancreatic cancer (34%) are first presented in EDs, compared with 15% or 3 in every 20 for cancers as a whole (other than non-melanoma skin cancers).
Our research found that pancreatic cancer also had the highest rate of a late stage diagnosis, with over half of all presentations (58%) being presented at Stage IV. This means that by the time it was diagnosed, in most cases it had already spread to other parts of the body.
Professor Kerri Clough-Gorr, Director of the NCRI and Professor of Cancer Epidemiology at University College Cork added, “Emergency presentation with cancer can result from lack of awareness of symptoms in patients and is generally associated with more advanced stage, fewer treatment options and poorer survival outcomes. This tallies with the statistics that we have seen over the years in relation to pancreatic cancer.
“We also see a clear link between people’s socio-economic factors and those presenting with cancer in EDs. Among pancreatic cancer patients from the least deprived areas, 27% presented in emergency settings, compared with 41% of patients from the most deprived areas – a difference of 14%. So it is evident that not only does someone’s socio-economic status influence the likelihood of a person getting cancer, it also is associated with a late diagnosis.”
Most cases of pancreatic cancer occur in adults over the age of 60.
Symptoms of pancreatic cancer include:
- Pain or discomfort around your stomach area, which may spread to your back.
- Weight loss.
- Jaundice.
- Loss of appetite.
- Feeling full very quickly.
- Nausea (feeling sick).
- Vomiting.
- Diabetes, especially if diagnosed within previous 2 years.
- Low mood.
The cause of pancreatic cancer is unknown. But there are things called risk factors that can increase your chance of getting the disease.
Pancreatic cancer risk factors include:
- Smoking.
- Diet high in fat and sugar.
- Diabetes.
- Chronic pancreatitis.
- Family history of pancreatitis and inherited conditions.
- Occupation (exposed to radiation, aluminium, acrylamide in the workplace).
To speak to a cancer nurse on any aspect of cancer contact our Cancer Nurseline on Freephone 1800 200 700, email cancernurseline@irishcancer.ie or drop into one of our 13 Daffodil Centre in hospitals nationwide.
