Global Health Asia-Pacific August 2021 August 2021(clone) | Page 36

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The stealthy nature of pancreatic cancer makes it a serial killer

Lagging behind other cancer therapies , treatments for pancreatic cancer need much improvement although some promising trials are in the pipeline
During that time , the same metric for pancreatic cancer jumped from three to 10 percent and was the lowest survival rate among the 25 cancer types on their list .

Thanks to advancements in diagnosis and treatment , many cancer patients are now living longer and healthier lives , but not all cancers have benefited equally .

Breast cancer mortality , for instance , dropped by 40 percent between the 1980s and 2020 in high-income countries where roughly 90 percent of female patients now survive for at least five years after diagnosis , mostly due to early detection and treatment , according to the World Health Organization . In many instances , the use of mammograms , or X-rays of the breast , has helped prevent the spread of malignancies to other tissues due to early detection . Specific treatments targeting the biological features of some breast cancer subtypes have also contributed to high survival rates . One example is hormone therapy , which can slow or block the growth of tumours that rely on these chemicals that are naturally present in humans to proliferate .
However , a major challenge in treating cancer is that it ’ s actually a constellation of different diseases that can affect multiple tissues and organs , so the advancements against one malignancy can ’ t be easily replicated in others . These difficulties are particularly evident in pancreatic cancer care , where improvements are coming but at a much slower pace . The pancreas is an essential organ that helps convert food into fuel for the body ’ s cells and regulate blood sugars .
�Though we ’ re making small advancements and learning more about pancreatic cancer , the frustrating thing is that survival rates have not really improved over the last 20 to 30 years ,” Datin Dr Sharmila Sachithanandan , a consultant gastroenterologist at Subang Jaya Medical Centre in Kuala Lumpur , told Global Health Asia-Pacific . �We ’ re seeing survival rates being very static compared to other cancers , like lung and colon malignancies , that are doing better . �
In the US , for instance , the five-year survival rate for colon cancer increased from 51 percent in the mid 1970s to 63 percent in 2016 , according to the American Cancer Society . During that time , the same metric for pancreatic cancer jumped from three to 10 percent and was the lowest survival rate among the 25 cancer types on their list .
In 2020 , almost half a million patients with pancreatic malignancies succumbed to the disease , accounting for 4.7 percent of all cancer deaths worldwide , according to �lobocan . This is a significant number if we consider that pancreatic cancer isn ’ t that common and made up just 2 . � percent of new cancer cases that year .
There are a multitude of reasons that make pancreatic cancer such a deadly condition , from diagnostic and therapeutic limitations to biological and anatomical difficulties . �ut these challenges aren ’ t necessarily insurmountable .
Roberta Luna has been dealing with the grim reality of suffering from pancreatic cancer for a big chunk of her life , while also losing her grandmother , father , uncle , and mother ( who was diagnosed in 2005 and died in 2013 ) to the disease .
“ When I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2002 , my doctor told me to go home and put my house in order ,” she said in an interview with Global Health Asia-Pacific . ��ut I wasn ’ t ready to go down that road . �
While she thinks it ’ s understandable some physicians want to be as honest as possible about what patients should expect from pancreatic cancer , they shouldn ’ t make assumptions on how patients should react .
“ I ’ m for knowing all the statistics and everything I am going to be facing , but at the same time , doctors shouldn ’ t take my hope away because they don ’ t know when my time is going to be up . Sometimes hope is all we have , � she said .
Although Luna ’ s last 19 years on treatments have affected her routine , her �life was fairly normal . � The same goes for the many people living with pancreatic cancer she ’ s met while volunteering for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network ( PanCAN ), a US-based advocacy organisation .
“ A lot of them are still able to do the things they
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