Pancreatic Cancer Advocates Unite on Capitol Hill to Urge Congress to Make the Impossible Possible by Increasing Funding for Cancer Research

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Jun 20, 2016, 05:00 ET

MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif., June 20, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Nearly 700 pancreatic cancer advocates from across the country, including more than 100 survivors, will gather on Capitol Hill tomorrow to make the impossible possible by urging Congress to make cancer research funding a federal priority.

While advocates are on the Hill, the nation is invited to join thousands of supporters who will call members of Congress, as part of the National Call-in, to ask for an increase in funding for cancer research.

Pancreatic Cancer Action Network :30 PSA

"To ensure Congress continues to make cancer research funding a priority, we need even more committed individuals to join our efforts," said Julie Fleshman, JD, MBA, president and CEO of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. "More funding has the potential to save lives, provide hope to those affected and ignite the cancer research community. Cancer research funding is an area that unites us all."

Pancreatic cancer surpassed breast cancer this year to become the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States.

Of the 53,070 Americans who will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year, many will be advanced-stage because there are no early detection methods. And with limited effective treatment options, most will not survive.

"If you are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer today, you only have an 8 percent chance of living five years," said Fleshman. "It's now time to make the impossible possible for pancreatic cancer."

Together with the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, Advocacy Day and National Call-in volunteers will urge Congress to put the National Institutes of Health (NIH) on a path to sustained growth by appropriating $34.5 billion for the NIH, including $5.9 billion for the National Cancer Institute, to fully fund the Cancer Moonshot Initiative and make progress on the nation's deadliest cancers.

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network has long advocated for increased federal support in an effort to improve patient outcomes. In large part to these efforts, the Recalcitrant Cancer Research Act was signed into law by President Obama in 2013.

The statute required the National Cancer Institute (NCI) to develop scientific frameworks for recalcitrant cancers, beginning with pancreatic and lung cancers. The statute also defined recalcitrant, or deadliest, cancers, as those cancers with a five-year survival rate below 50 percent.

Since the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network's founding in 1999, NCI funding for pancreatic cancer has increased 500 percent.

Learn more about the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network by visiting pancan.org. Follow the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.

About the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network
The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network is the national organization creating hope in a comprehensive way through research, patient support, community outreach and advocacy for a cure. The organization is leading the way to increase survival for people diagnosed with this devastating disease through a bold initiative — The Vision of Progress: Double Pancreatic Cancer Survival by 2020. To continue to accelerate progress, a goal to raise $200 million by 2020 is also in place. Together, we can Wage Hope and rewrite the future of pancreatic cancer.

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Contact:
Cara Martinez
Senior Manager, Public Relations
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network
Direct: 310-706-3357; E-mail: [email protected]

SOURCE Pancreatic Cancer Action Network