Swayze succumbed to stealthy, lethal killer
| September 15, 2009 | 11:03 AM
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Actor Patrick Swayze’s tragic death from pancreatic cancer has called attention once again to this stealthy and extremely deadly form of the disease.
Five-year survival rates for pancreatic cancer are only 5 percent, making it the most lethal cancer in the U.S., according to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. The low survival rate is tied to the fact that symptoms often don’t appear until advanced stages of the disease.
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had surgery for pancreatic cancer this year after a routine scan showed a small lesion in her pancreas. That tumor turned out to be benign, but while doctors were removing it, they found a smaller, malignant tumor. Because the cancer was caught early, her prognosis is more hopeful than the majority of people diagnosed with the disease.
Swayze’s cancer had already spread to his liver when it was diagnosed in March 2008. He beat the odds by surviving as long as he did. The one-year survival rate is 24 percent.
According to the American Cancer Society, 430 people in Colorado and more than 35,000 across the U.S. are expected to die from pancreatic cancer this year.
New treatments are in the pipeline for the disease, including an experimental drug that Swayze took that is designed to inhibit the enzymes needed for tumor growth. Other new techniques include cancer vaccines that work to boost the body’s own immune response, seeking and killing cancer cells.
Until researchers find a way to detect the disease early, these treatments will be sufferers’ best hope.
pancreatic cancer, patrick swayze, ruth bader ginsburg
