– it is estimated that 4000 canadians will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2012- of those 3900 will die
– it is the 4th leading cause of cancer related death in Canada and the chances of developing pancreatic cancer is 1 in 79
– it has the highest mortality rate of all the major cancers. 75% die within the first year of diagnosis
– 5 yr survival rates are in the single digits and this has not changed in decades.
– it is referred to as a silent killer- its difficult to detect and once a patient presents with symptoms the cancer has usually spread making treatment options limited and prognosis poor
– please see Pancreatic Cancer Canada for more facts and statistics