Pancreatic Cancer...
Each year in the United States, about 42,470 individuals are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and 35,240 die from the disease. The prognosis is generally poor; less than 5 percent of those diagnosed are still alive five years after diagnosis. Complete remission is still extremely rare. Pancreatic cancer is sometimes called a "silent killer" because early pancreatic cancer often does not cause symptoms, and the later symptoms are usually non-specific and varied. Therefore, pancreatic cancer is often not diagnosed until it is advanced.
Median survival from diagnosis is around 3 to 6 months. Pancreatic cancer has one of the highest fatality rates of all cancers and is the fourth highest cancer killer in the United States among both men and women. Although it accounts for only 2.5% of new cases, pancreatic cancer is responsible for 6% of cancer deaths each year.
According to the American Cancer Society, there are no established guidelines for preventing pancreatic cancer, although cigarette smoking has been reported as responsible for 20–30% of pancreatic cancers.
The ACS recommends keeping a healthy weight, and increasing consumption of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains while decreasing red meat intake, although there is no consistent evidence that this will prevent or reduce pancreatic cancer specifically.
In September 2006, a long-term study concluded that taking Vitamin D can substantially cut the risk of pancreatic cancer (as well as other cancers) by up to 50%, but this study needs to evaluate fully the risks, costs and potential benefits of taking Vitamin D. (Source - Wikipedia)
More information...
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network
Nutrition & Other Factors and Pancreatic Cancer:
Vitamin D (conflicting evidence for PC)
Other current or deceased pancreatic cancer victims whose names you may recognize:
Myles Brand, NCAA CEO and former IU President
Gene Upshaw, NFL Hall of Fame football player and Executive Director of NFL Players Association
Patrick Swayze, Actor
Steve Jobs, Apple Computer co-founder
Sally Ride, Astronaut
Ruth Ginsburg, Supreme Court Justice
Luciano Pavarotti, world famous Italian Tenor
Don Hewitt, the CBS newsman who invented "60 Minutes"
Michael Landon, TV actor/director/producer
Jack Benny, comedian/actor
Joe Jackson, of the Jackson 5
President Jimmy Carter family members: When asked what differentiated him from the rest of his family he said, "The only difference between me and my father and my siblings was that I never smoked a cigarette... All of them smoked." (see NY Times article)
• James Earl Carter, Sr., father
• Bessie Lillian Gordy Carter, Mother
• Gloria Carter Spann, sister
• Ruth Carter Stapleton, sister
• Billy Carter, brother
Marc A. Lustgarten, Cablevisionvice-chairman, and chairman of Madison Square Garden (he created an eponymous foundation to research and find a cure for pancreatic cancer)
Benjamin Orr, bass guitar player for The Cars
Syd Barrett, rock singer songwriter, and Pink Floyd founding member
Ralph Waldo Ellison, scholar & writer
Mikhail Botvinnik, three time World Chess Champion
Joan Crawford, Oscar-winning star
Donna Reed, Oscar-winning actress
Frederick Hubbard "Fred" Gwynne, actor in '60s TV series “Car 54” and “The Munsters”
Harve Presnell, Actor
Melvin Belli, famous (controversial) lawyer
Emily Couric, Virginia-state politician; sister of Katie Couric
Sir Rex Harrison, Oscar-winning British actor
John Sylvester White, TV actor (Welcome Back Kotter)