World Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month
11 Nov 2019
World Pancreatic Cancer day takes place on 21 November
Pancreatic Cancer UK is encouraging people to 'Take it On' in the run up to World Pancreatic Cancer day on 21 November.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the difficult cancers to diagnose as there are often no signs or symptoms in the early stages. In the UK, 24 people lose their lives to pancreatic cancer each day. Many are diagnosed when the cancer is at an advanced stage – 1 in 4 people do not survive more than one month after diagnosis, and 80% will not survive beyond a year.
Raising awareness of the symptoms is vital to ensure early diagnosis and effective treatment, so Pancreatic Cancer UK have produced a video to support the ‘Take it on’ campaign to help people learn about the symptoms of the disease.
Get involved and Take it on
There are many ways for you to contribute to the Take it on campaign:
- Walk, run or ride 24 miles in Challenge 24
- Bring your friends and family together for a Bake Off
- Support Pancreatic Cancer UK in any way – get some ideas of how to Do Your Own Thing
- Shaving, dyeing or waxing your hair or even dressing purple is an amazing way to take a stand against pancreatic cancer – and Stand Out
As well as raising awareness, the campaign will help raise funding for further research into diagnostic tools and treatments that will improve outcomes for patients.
To find out how to get involved, visit the Pancreatic Cancer UK’s website and follow the campaign on Instagram #TakeItOn.
Seth’s story
The HepatoPancreatoBiliary Research Team in Manchester works alongside many patients and patient advocates. Lesley Goodburn is one of our major PPI collaborators who is passionate about raising awareness in memory of her husband, Seth.
Seth Goodburn was a kind, loving, considerate, vibrant, curious man who had the most wonderful sense of humour and who was innately funny. He was a quiet and unassuming man and played a huge and significant part in all the lives he touched. He had simple tastes and he lived and loved life to the full. Aged 49 he was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer and up until two weeks before diagnosis he displayed no signs or symptoms of the disease apart from feeling slightly lethargic.
Seth died just 33 short and heart-breaking days after his diagnosis, leaving behind his beloved wife Lesley.
Lesley says:
“Seth’s case was one of the one in four people who die within a month of diagnosis. I can’t change anything for Seth but by sharing our story I can try to make a change for the future.”