TRAGICALLY, 93 per cent of patients with pancreatic cancer do not survive beyond five years after diagnosis, and many of your readers will have been personally affected by this tough cancer.

Survival has barely improved since the 1970s and this is not acceptable. We must demand better for everyone affected.

Thursday (November 16) is World Pancreatic Cancer Day so I want to urge your readers to find out more about the disease and the impact it can have on people diagnosed and their families.

In Wales, as across the rest of the world, we simply don’t know enough about it.

If there is an increased awareness of the potential symptoms, which include tummy and back pain, indigestion, itchy skin or yellow skin or eyes, unexplained weight loss and oily floating poo, we hope that more people would be diagnosed earlier.

And we know that the earlier people are diagnosed, the more likely it is they’ll be eligible for surgery, the only treatment which can save lives.

Your readers can find more vital information at worldpancreaticcancerday.org or seek support from myself or one of my colleagues on the Pancreatic Cancer UK Support Line (Freecall: 0808 801 0707).

DIANNE DOBSON

Pancreatic Cancer UK

Nurse Specialist