Pancreatic cancer is only the 9th most common cancer in the UK, and yet it is the 5th leading cause of cancer death. Sadly this aggressive disease has very low survival rates, and continues to be one of the most difficult types of cancer to diagnose and treat - it is defined as a 'silent killer' because there are no specific symptoms in the early stages. With your help we are funding exciting discovery research into pancreatic cancer that we hope will lead the way to future cures.
Pancreatic cancer is defined as a “silent killer” because there are no specific symptoms in the early stages.
What is pancreatic cancer?
The pancreas is an organ that sits just behind your stomach and plays two important roles in your body: it produces hormones, including insulin, and it also produces enzymes, which are important for our digestive system.
In 2022, over half a million people were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer worldwide, and over 460,000 died from the disease. The most common cancer that develops in the pancreas is called pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, which accounts for 90% of all pancreatic cancer cases, and it happens when cells that are part of the digestive function of the pancreas develop cancer.
Can pancreatic cancer be cured?
Pancreatic cancer can sometimes be cured, but it is a particularly difficult cancer to treat. If it is diagnosed early the chance of curing pancreatic cancer is higher, but once it has spread that becomes much more difficult.
Why is pancreatic cancer so hard to cure?
Pancreatic cancer is hard to spot
One of the reasons pancreatic cancer is so difficult to treat is that it is hard to diagnose. Because the pancreas is located deep inside the body, tumours often go undetected until the cancer has spread to other parts of the body – known as metastasis or secondary cancer. Once a cancer has metastasized, it is very difficult to cure.
Additionally, in the early stages of pancreatic cancer you might not have any symptoms, or they may be vague. Symptoms include things like indigestion, weight loss and fatigue, which are also symptoms of many other more common health conditions, making it hard to diagnose.
Pancreatic cancer is like a fortress
Another reason that pancreatic cancer is hard to treat is that when a tumour develops in the pancreas, it is often surrounded by thick scar tissue that makes treatment like chemotherapy less effective.
Not only this, but this thick tissue prevents nutrients from entering the tumour – so the cells become especially strong to be able to survive in difficult conditions. This in turn makes the cells more resistant to chemotherapy drugs.
We still don't fully understand it
We still have so much to learn about pancreatic cancer and there is so much that we don't yet understand about the disease. The less we know, the less able we are to cure it.
Uncovering more new information will improve our ability to diagnose and treat the disease. That is why we're funding crucial research into understanding pancreatic cancer that our researchers hope will lead to new cures in the future.
There are limited treatment options
The success of any treatment depends on how advanced the cancer is. Surgery can be the best option for localised cases, however it is a major operation with significant side effects, and patients need to be fit enough. Chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or a combination may be used before surgery to reduce the size of the tumour, or to manage its growth if surgery is not an option.
Once pancreatic cancer has become more advanced or spread, which is often the stage at which it is discovered, it is very difficult to treat with current methods.
The problem with pancreatic cancer is that we know very little about how it develops, how it spreads, how it progresses – and this also prevents scientists from developing really good treatments in order to combat this disease.
Research provides hope for new pancreatic cancer cures:
-
Will stopping a tiny protein improve pancreatic cancer treatment?
Our pancreatic cancer research project in Qatar is investigating a possible new way to improve treatment success for patients. Dr Khan and his team are hoping to make cancer cells more vulnerable to chemotherapy.
-
How does pancreatic cancer’s environment help it to grow?
This research team hope to discover clues towards much needed new treatments for pancreatic cancer so that survival rates for patients improve.
-
Could a combination of treatments help cure pancreatic cancer?
Researchers hope to find a vital new treatment for pancreatic caner that can get past scar tissue that blocks other therapies reaching this devastating disease.
-
Could combining therapies supercharge pancreatic cancer treatment?
Our project in Spain is exploring how to make pancreatic cancer treatments work better. Dr Vincent and his team are searching for a way to boost the effectiveness of a new treatment called KRAS inhibitors, so they can help more people.
-
None of this would be possible without Curestarters like you.
Your pancreatic cancer FAQs:
What makes pancreatic cancer so aggressive?
Pancreatic cancer is hard to spot and the longest it goes untreated the more aggressive it can be. It is also a particularly hard cancer to cure since a shield-like structure appears around it preventing treatments from reaching the tumour.
What are the first warning signs of pancreatic cancer?
Sometimes pancreatic cancer does not have any symptoms or they can be hard to spot. Warning signs for pancreatic cancer can include loss of appetite, feeling tired, a high temperature, feeling sick, changes in your bowel movements, or indigestion. These symptoms can be confused with other conditions – always speak to your doctor if you are concerned.
Can pancreatic cancer be cured if caught early?
Yes, pancreatic cancer can sometimes be cured if it is caught early. However, it is extremely hard to detect early so unfortunately it is generally hard to cure.
What are the survival rates for pancreatic cancer?
Survival rates for pancreatic cancer depend on many factors and no-one can say how long any individual with pancreatic cancer will live. If you have questions about a loved ones prognosis please speak to their oncology team.
Almost 3 out of 10 people in England will survive their pancreatic cancer for 1 year or more. Almost 1 in 10 people will survive for 5 years or more. Only 5 out of 100 people will survive their pancreatic cancer for 10 years or more.
What are the latest breakthroughs in pancreatic cancer?
Thanks to you, researchers in Australia have found a ‘less-is-more’ approach to drug dosage could help aggressive cancers including pancreatic cancer. In Italy Dr Miriam Martini has discovered one reason pancreatic cancers grow so quickly. Here in the UK, Curestarter researchers have invented a new chemical probe that can track pancreatic cancer cells better than ever before. We hope that thanks to amazing breakthroughs like these, in the future more pancreatic cancers will be cured.
Donate today to start new cures
Be part of the united effort to stop lives being cut short by cancer.