I was excited to learn that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the chemotherapy drug Abraxane to treat metastatic pancreatic cancer in combination with gemcitabine, another chemotherapy drug. This is the first new treatment to be approved for pancreatic adenocarcinoma, the most common type of pancreatic cancer, in nearly eight years.
With a five-year survival rate of just 6 percent, this is an important step for a disease that desperately needs treatment advances to improve patient outcomes.
This development is important to me so that others diagnosed with pancreatic cancer can have more hope than my dad did. He passed away after a nine-month battle with this brutal disease.
I encourage anyone fighting pancreatic cancer to reach out to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (www.pancan.org, 877- 272-6226). Their Patient and Liaison Services (PALS) program is dedicated to ensuring that patients and their families have the most current information on the disease, as well as treatment options, clinical trials, diet and nutrition, pain and symptom management, and support resources such as a survivor and caregiver network.
On a local level, the Northern New Jersey Affiliate, of which I am a volunteer, sponsors awareness and fundraising events. You can find information on the same website about upcoming regional events including New Jersey’s Nov. 10 5K walk/run PurpleStride as well as PurpleLight on Oct. 27, which honors those who are fighting or have succumbed to pancreatic cancer.
I am hopeful the medical community can build on this recent advancement and continue to make progress against the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States.
Jill Rothstein
Freehold Township