November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness month.  Most people are not aware of Pancreatic Cancer or realize how prevalent and deadly a disease it is.  While breast cancer kills approximately 40,000 US residents each year, pancreatic cancer takes nearly as many lives (34,000), but is far more deadlier.  Currently 5 year survival rates for pancreatic cancer are only 5% and on average patients lose their fight to pancreatic cancer in 6 months.  For this reason there are not many survivor groups or organized patient advocacy efforts to call attention to this disease and the lack of adequate research funding to help fund and find a cure.

Please visit our About Pancreatic Cancer page to learn more about this disease.


 AWARENESS ACTIVITIES

Fund A Cure for Pancreatic Cancer visits the State Capital in Harrisburg, PA to advocate for passage of a resolution designating November as
Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month in Pennsylvania.     
   State Senator Chuck McIhinney with Fund A Cure Chairman Robert Ciervo on Oct. 8, 2009

    View the resolution designating November as Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month in Pennsylvania online.


                                                         Fund A Cure visits the Pancreatic Cancer Research Team at Thomas Jefferson
                                                         University Hospital on Oct. 27, 2009 to make a donation to their research efforts.
                                                         Dr. Hwyda Arafat and Dr. Jonathan Brody under the guidance of Dr. Charles Yeo,
                                                         Chair of Surgery for Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, are developing
                                                         cutting edge treatment methods to combat pancreatic cancer. 
                                                         
                                                                Dr. Arafat, Fund A Cure Vice Chair Gail Szigeti, Robert Ciervo, Dr. Brody and Dr. Yeo

Find out more about the innovative research to help find effective cures for pancreatic cancer taking place at
Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, PA at their website. 

While breast cancer research and prevention efforts receive nearly more than $750 million a year from the National Cancer Institute ($572.4 million) and Centers for Disease Control ($200.8 million) budgets and HIV/AIDS research and treatment funding nears $3 billion from the federal government annually, only $73.3 million in 2007 was allocated to help fight pancreatic cancer.  We urge residents to contact their U.S. Senators to ensure that pancreatic cancer research is provided federal research dollars on par with other less deadly diseases and we advocate for a $1 billion yearly appropriation.  Just because there are hardly any survivors of this disease left does not mean we as a society can continue to relegate funding to find a cure for it at the bottom of our priority list. It is hard to build a high school for $73 million; how are we supposed to find a cure to the deadliest cancer for this amount?


RAISE AWARENESS TO HELP FUND A CURE.  NOW. 
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