Progress is desperately needed in the fight against pancreatic cancer. According to a recent report, pancreatic cancer is expected to move from the fourth to the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States by 2020.
There are no early diagnostic tools, few effective treatments and no cure for this insidious disease. It is unfair that only 6 percent of those individuals diagnosed with pancreatic cancer survive more than five years.
Progress in the fight against pancreatic cancer can be made by bringing more awareness to the issue.
November is National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. To mark the occasion, the Northern New Jersey Affiliate of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network held the fifth annual PurpleStride New Jersey on Nov. 9. My daughter and I participated in memory of my dad, who lost his battle with pancreatic cancer in 2008. In the past two years, we have met an alarmingly increasing number of people who have lost loved ones, as well.
Please consider making an awareness day in your school or business, donating and reading about how else you can help at www.wagehope.org.
You can make a difference.
Jill Rothstein
Freehold Township