Dear Editor,
It is unacceptable in this day and age that there is a cancer for which the relative five-year survival rate is still in the single digits. It is particularly unacceptable when you consider that the overall five-year relative survival for all cancers is now 67 percent and the overall cancer incidence and death rates are declining, while the incidence and death rates for pancreatic cancer are increasing. Pancreatic cancer is anticipated to move from the fourth to the second leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. by 2020, and possibly as early 2015. It has the lowest five-year survival rate of any major cancer, at just six percent. This year alone this terrible disease will claim the lives of 510 people who live in the state of Connecticut.
Pancreatic cancer patients and their loved ones cannot wait any longer. It is essential that we make research into pancreatic cancer a priority in this country so that real progress can be made toward better treatment options, early detection, and a cure.
I am a volunteer for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network in Connecticut, and am helping to accomplish that goal by introducing a Town of Fairfield Awareness Proclamation that recognizes November as National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. I lost my Dad to pancreatic cancer in 2011 after a one year battle and I promised him that I would continue the fight in his memory. The proclamation will raise awareness about this devastating disease and encourage our elected officials to make fighting pancreatic cancer a priority. We must support our fellow citizens who have been afflicted by this disease and advocate for greater awareness and more resources to fight pancreatic cancer.
Rachael Klotzberger
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network volunteer
