Thread by @abc730

#Pancreatic #cancer will soon overtake breast cancer in fatalities in Australia. It's difficult to diagnose and 9 out of 10 patients die within five years. Now there's a push to give it more attention and vital research funding. #abc730 @ashmcghee

Helen MacGregor was first diagnosed with #pancreatic cancer in 2018. “I didn’t even know what pancreatic cancer was back then.” #abc730

Helen was part of a clinical trial of a new immunotherapy to treat the #cancer, but it wasn’t successful. “I also found out that the tumours had doubled in size. It was upsetting because I was doing this not just for myself but for everyone fighting this.” #abc730

“Pancreatic cancer is a cancer that arises in the pancreas, which is an organ in the abdominal cavity. It’s hidden behind where the stomach is, in quite a delicate area where quite a lot of blood vessels run.” Dr Merhdad, #pancreatic surgeon. #abc730

“By the time symptoms arrive, often the cancer has either spread or it’s of a size that it is not amenable to surgery. And surgery is really, currently, the only chance of cure.” Dr Merhdad, #pancreatic surgeon. #abc730

“If we invest in research that might help us come up with earlier diagnosis, whether it be a blood test, a blood biomarker or some other kind of test that could be scaled, that would be the hope.” Michelle Stewart ANVAR Pancreatic Cancer Foundation. #abc730

Helen MacGregor is now having chemotherapy and feeling positive. “I'm still incredibly hopeful. Nothing will change that. I'm actually more positive than I've been in a long time because I feel so good.” #abc730 #pancreatic #cancer