Right now, 7 in 10 people with pancreatic cancer are told there is no treatment available for them. Their chance of survival is taken away – half of people diagnosed die within three months.
That’s because for decades governments neglected pancreatic cancer research. This means there are hardly any treatments, and those that do exist are toxic and gruelling. People are left with only hope to hold onto. This is unacceptable.
We know that if the deadliest common cancer becomes a priority, we can change this.
We’re asking MPs to sign our open letter to get the Government to address the lack of treatment breakthroughs for pancreatic cancer. Urgent action is essential to transform the lives of people affected by the disease.
MP letter to Cancer Minister
Dear Cancer Minister,
We are parliamentarians who, alongside the charity Pancreatic Cancer UK, are writing to ask you to drive treatment breakthroughs for pancreatic cancer.
Currently, 7 in 10 people with pancreatic cancer receive no treatment at all. Just 1 in 10 have surgery, the only potential cure, while only a quarter receive life-extending chemotherapy. The few existing treatments are too toxic for many people to tolerate, leaving them and their loved ones with only hope to hold on to. Tragically, half the people with the disease die within three months of their diagnosis.
That’s why prioritising research into pancreatic cancer is essential. We need more research to find new ways to treat this cancer, and to turn these learnings into treatments. Ultimately, clinical trials are key to this.
Pancreatic cancer has been historically underfunded by successive governments, resulting in only three treatment developments in the last 100 years. While recent steps have been taken to address this through the publication of the National Cancer Plan for England and the passage of the Rare Cancers Act, we need more than a plan: we need urgent action addressing the lack of breakthroughs in pancreatic cancer research. We are therefore calling on your Government to:
- Offer testing for every eligible patient’s tumour at the first opportunity, to match them to clinical trials and unlock more personalised treatments.
- Automatically link and fast-track eligible patients to relevant clinical trials.
- Ensure the named lead for the Rare Cancers Act allocates funding for research to support future pancreatic cancer treatments and trials.
People with pancreatic cancer deserve the opportunity to live long and well. Investing in pancreatic cancer research to drive treatment breakthroughs will transform the lives of people affected by the disease.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
