Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the hardest to detect and most difficult to treat of all solid tumor cancers, with a five-year survival rate of just 12.5%. It is the third leading cause of cancer death in the U.S.
Often there are no noticeable signs or symptoms in the early stages of PDAC, leading to delays in diagnosis. This means that it is more often caught once the cancer has metastasized, or spread to surrounding tissues and organs beyond the pancreas. When symptoms do appear, they are often similar to other diseases, further complicating and delaying diagnosis.
When PDAC is diagnosed relatively early, when it has spread only to nearby tissues, the five-year survival rate is about 15%. When the disease is diagnosed late, after spreading to a distant part of the body, the 5-year relative survival rate drops to just 3%. This means that, sadly, for those people whose disease has distant spread when diagnosed, just 3% will be alive in five years.
While metastatic PDAC is a devastating disease, there is hope on the horizon.
In recent decades, there have been advances in treatment for PDAC, including both new medications and new uses for existing ones. Advances have been incremental and researchers continue to develop new treatment approaches with the potential to increase survival rates from this devastating form of cancer. Research in detection and advancements in treatment are on the horizon and may provide hope for patients and their families.
In this interview, Mike Cusnir, MD, Chief of Hematology and Oncology at Mount Sinai Medical Center and a patient discuss what you need to know about metastatic pancreatic cancer. They also talk about the impact of this cancer and the challenges they have been facing.
Interview is courtesy: Ipsen Pharma
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