Pancreatic cancer is the deadliest common cancer. It is often diagnosed late, and progresses quickly. Three in four people do not survive a year after diagnosis.
To save lives, health ministers need to view pancreatic cancer as an urgent case.
That’s why we launched our Demand Faster Treatment campaign that called on UK Governments to treat pancreatic cancer as a cancer emergency, and to make sure that people with the disease receive treatment within 20 days of diagnosis.
Read our policy report and evidence report.
Demand Faster Treatment has been one of our most successful campaigns. With your help, we’ve already made a huge difference.
Like many people in a similar position, Erika had to wait to receive treatment – even though pancreatic cancer is the deadliest common cancer. Rapid access to treatment is vital. And yet out of every 10 people diagnosed, 7 receive no active treatment. This means they don’t get a chance to fight the disease and live longer. Delaying treatment also runs the risk of the cancer spreading, making people ineligible for potentially life-saving treatment.
When Erika Vincent was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, she was given four months to live. So she expected that her cancer would be treated as an emergency, and that she’d be given treatment fast. But it didn’t happen. Her words here are very powerful:
Many people who joined us in supporting this campaign will have followed Erika Vincent’s story. She was so brave in championing our Demand Faster Treatment campaign, but very sadly, Erika passed away just before the campaign ended and never got to see us reach the milestone of 100,000 signatures that she was so hoping for.
All of our thoughts are with her loved ones at this extremely difficult time. Her family still stand behind the campaign and want her story to be shared.
See some more photos here and read our blog about our achievements in more detail
The petition and public campaign for Demand Faster Treatment has now ended, but our campaigns team continues to work with Governments across the UK and clinicians to lobby for and develop ways to develop faster treatment for pancreatic cancer.
Faster treatment as a crucial part of the optimal care that’s needed to transform the diagnosis, care, treatment and support for people with pancreatic cancer. We call this the Pancreatic Cancer Optimal Care Pathway and our team is working on developing this in order to improve the care experiences of people with pancreatic cancer.
We’ll also continue to put pressure on governments and healthcare bodies to beat the deadliest cancer, and we will be making more noise to keep pancreatic cancer in the spotlight. As new opportunities arise, it’s important that we tell governments across the UK what needs to change.