Pancreatic cancer bill needs support

With a five-year survival rate of just 6 percent, pancreatic cancer has the lowest relative survival rate of all the cancers tracked by the American Cancer Society and the National Cancer Institute. It is the fourth-leading cause of cancer death in the U.S.

The good news is that there is currently a bill, the Pancreatic Cancer Research & Education Act (S. 362/H.R. 733), that would change these statistics by requiring the NCI to develop a long-term comprehensive strategic plan to combat this insidious disease.

The dismal survival rates have changed little over the last decades. We cannot continue to wait for the status quo to produce new results. We need a new game plan. We need the Pancreatic Cancer Research & Education Act passed.

Fighting this disease is personal for me because my father died almost a year ago at age 60 of this terrible disease and in the last two years a dozen people in and around my community have passed from this deadly cancer. As a member of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor & Pensions (HELP), our Sen. Mark Kirk wields enormous influence over the fate of the Pancreatic Cancer Research & Education Act. We need his support. Please join me in urging Senator Kirk to co-sponsor S. 362 today in order to give hope to the 44,000 Americans who will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year.

Valerie Jackman

Aurora