Let me just say that starting this blog was incredibly difficult for me!! I was able to create it without a problem, but filling this box with enough words, and more importantly, the right words, has been stretched out through one episode each of Pretty Little Liars, Castle, and The Next Great Baker as well as helping to bath my roommate's puppy Rocco. Now that I am done procrastinating, let's get down to business!
For my blog, I am going to concentrate on research and clinical trials that doctors are working on around the United States in hopes of finding some way to diagnose the disease earlier, or to treat it with a higher chance of success. Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers out there. Early detection is uncommon, pancreatic cancer spreads quickly, and recurrence is likely. This topic has a lot of significance to me because my mom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in May of 2007 and passed away from the disease six months later. I think it is a terrible tragedy that the prognosis for this disease is so bad. I wish I were skilled in science and math and could go into a medical field, but those skills are not mine. Writing is a way that I can tell others about the disease and ways that they can help raise awareness. On that note, let's start with a few facts.
Did You Know?...
- Pancreatic cancer is the 10th most common site of new cancers
- It is the 4th leading cause of cancer deaths among both men and women
- It comprises 6% of all cancer-related deaths
- At the time of diagnosis, 52% of all patients have distant disease and 26% have regional spread
- The relative 1 year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is only 24% and overall 5 year survival is 5%
- The collective median survival time of all patients is 4 to 6 months
- Age is the most significant risk factor for pancreatic cancer
- After the age of 50, the frequency of pancreatic cancer increases linearly
- At age 70, the pancreatic cancer mortality rate is approximately 60 deaths per 100,000 persons per year
- Median age at diagnosis is 69 in whites and 65 in blacks
Causes
- 40% of pancreatic cancer cases are sporadic in nature
- 30% are related to smoking
- 20% may be associated with dietary factors
- 5-10% are hereditary in nature
I'm so glad that you've identified such an important mission for your research and writing work over the next few months. I think you're right that to note that an often overlooked aspect of health issues is the writing necessary to communicate new scientific and technical findings to a lay audience. Your writing projects this semester should give you an opportunity to practice that type of work--including the fact sheet, which you clearly already have a good start on with the material you've incorporated into this post. I'd be interested in hearing you say more about the facts you've included in that list. How would you summarize the main point or points of those facts? What do you think they help us to understand about the disease? What do you hope these facts persuade your readers to believe about pancreatic cancer?
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