November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month
November is Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month – an annual nationwide effort to illuminate one of the most difficult cancers to detect early and to rally support for prevention, research, and survivorship. Throughout the month, advocacy groups, clinicians, scientists, and communities unite to expand public understanding, elevate patient voices, and push forward the critical need for improved screening technologies.
The purple ribbon remains the symbol of solidarity and hope. Awareness initiatives highlight key modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors such as smoking, chronic pancreatitis, obesity, metabolic dysfunction, type 2 diabetes, certain hereditary syndromes, and BRCA-related mutations. Education also focuses on early warning signs that often go unnoticed: unexplained weight loss, persistent abdominal or back pain, jaundice, digestive changes, or new-onset diabetes in adults over 50.
Updated 2025 U.S. snapshot:
An estimated 67,440 new cases of pancreatic cancer are expected this year.
Approximately 51,980 deaths are projected in 2025.
The current overall five-year relative survival rate remains 13%, reflecting the urgent need for earlier diagnosis.
When detected at a localized stage (about 15% of cases), survival improves significantly, with five-year survival around 44%.
Incidence rates continue to rise, averaging 13.8 cases per 100,000 people annually.
The 2025 mission is clear: empower the public with lifesaving knowledge, accelerate innovation in early detection, expand access to high-quality care, and support survivors and families through every phase of the journey.
Symptoms for pancreatic cancer may include weight loss, abdominal discomfort, back pain, development of type 2 diabetes and some tumors may cause jaundice leading to earlier diagnosis.
Pancreatic cancer remains one of the deadliest cancers, with survival rates far lower than most other major malignancies. For all stages combined, the five-year relative survival rate is approximately 12 to 13 percent. When the disease is found at a localized stage, which occurs in only about 15 percent of patients, the five-year survival rate increases to roughly 44 percent.
More than 90 percent of pancreatic cancers arise in the exocrine tissue of the pancreas, which produces digestive enzymes. The vast majority of these cases are pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, an aggressive form that accounts for the high mortality burden associated with this disease.
The less common pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (NETs), develop in hormone-producing endocrine cells, or islet cells. Neuroendocrine tumors often have a better prognosis and younger median age of diagnosis.
More than 90% of cases are pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC), that develop in the exocrine tissue of the pancreas, which makes digestive enzymes. Treatment options for pancreatic cancer: Surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy are treatment options that extend survival or relieve symptoms, but seldom produce a cure. Surgical removal of the tumor is possible in less than 20% of patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer because detection is often in late stages and has spread beyond the pancreas. Adjuvant treatment with chemotherapy (and sometimes radiation) may lower the risk of recurrence. For advanced disease, chemotherapy (sometimes along with a targeted drug therapy) may lengthen survival. Clinical trials are testing several new agents for their ability to improve survival.
Pancreatic cancer remains one of the deadliest cancers, with a mortality burden that far outweighs its incidence. It is currently the third leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States, behind lung and colorectal cancers. If current trends continue, it is projected to become the second leading cause of cancer-related death by around 2030.
This shift is driven by several factors: the lack of reliable early-detection tools, the tendency for symptoms to appear only after the disease has advanced, and the aggressive nature of the cancer itself. While treatments continue to improve, earlier diagnosis and greater public awareness remain essential to changing survival outcomes.
References:
American Cancer Society. Key Statistics for Pancreatic Cancer. Updated 2025.
Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN). Pancreatic Cancer Survival Statistics. Updated 2025.
National Cancer Institute. SEER Cancer Stat Facts: Pancreatic Cancer. Updated 2025.
U.S. National Institutes of Health. Pancreatic Cancer—Epidemiology and Risk Factors. Updated 2024–2025.
“Exercise can lower the risk of developing pancreatic cancer and has the potential to improve physical fitness and quality of life in patients with the disease.”
Exercise can lower the risk of developing pancreatic cancer and has the potential to improve physical fitness and quality of life in patients with the disease.