You have full access to this article via your institution.
Struggle for survival
Pancreatic cancer accounts for only about 3.3% of all new cancer cases in the United States each year. Yet, it has one of the lowest survival rates, and makes up 8.4% of annual US cancer deaths. In 2021, there were 508,533 cases of pancreatic cancer globally1 – up from 207,905 in 1990.
Source: SEER database
A wide gap
Funding by the US National Cancer Institute for pancreatic cancer research has increased in recent years. Between 2017 and 2023, it rose by 38%. But, overall, the trend is for funding for pancreatic cancer to lag behind that for other common cancers. This might explain why there are fewer clinical trials and, in turn, fewer breakthroughs to treat the disease.
Source: Hall, B. R. et al. Ann. Surg. 271, 296–302 (2020).
An alarming trend
For unknown reasons, pancreatic cancer diagnoses have been rising for all age groups over the past few decades. For people under 55 years old, the incidence is increasing faster in women than it is in men. This is especially true for US women aged 15–34.
In this group, the rate of increase in diagnoses between 2001 and 2018 was around three times that of young men.
Source: SEER database
Stealthy tumours
Pancreatic cancer is often asymptomatic and diagnosed after the disease has spread to other areas of the body. This is one reason why it is so deadly.
Source: SEER database
