More than half of UK know nothing about pancreatic cancer

Survey results, released this week for World Pancreatic Cancer Day, have shown that 64% of people in the UK say they ‘know almost nothing’ about pancreatic cancer.

Despite being the fifth most common cancer killer in the UK in 2012, pancreatic cancer ranked bottom in terms of ‘how much people thought they knew’ compared to other cancers, which included: breast, lung, skin, prostate, ovarian and colon cancer. In the UK almost 8,800 people are diagnosed each year with pancreatic cancer, 3 and relative survival rates are amongst the lowest of all cancers in England with only 18.1% of patients diagnosed with the disease surviving for one year after diagnosis.

Ms Alex Ford, Chief Executive of Pancreatic Cancer UK, said: “This survey confirms that there is an urgent need within the UK to raise awareness about pancreatic cancer – particularly as pancreatic cancer is set to overtake breast cancer as the 4th leading cancer killer by 2030. However, this survey also highlights the fact that this is not just a UK problem but also a global one. This is why we have teamed up with advocacy groups across the world, including Europe, Australia, South America and North America to create World Pancreatic Cancer Day in order to try and raise awareness of the disease, its symptoms, potential causes and the need for early diagnosis.”