FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PANCAN PRESIDENT OF SCIENTIFIC & GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS RECEIVES PARTNERS IN PROGRESS AWARD FROM ASCO

Prestigious Oncologist Organization Presents Award at Annual Meeting

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. U.S.A. (July 6, 2004) - The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network’s Co-founder and P resident of Scientific & Government Affairs Paula Kim received the 2004 Partners in Progress Award from The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO). The Partners in Progress Award was established in 2003 by ASCO as a means of recognizing the work of an extraordinary patient advocate whose dedication and vision have had a measurable effect on public awareness about cancer and have led to advancements in cancer treatment, research, prevention, and education. PanCAN is the first national patient-based advocacy organization for the pancreatic cancer community that serves patients, families, medical researchers and physicians.

"The Partners in Progress Award is a tremendous honor and validates our efforts," said Kim. " In the past five years, PanCAN has made great progress in providing hope for patients with pancreatic cancer and their families. This recognition from ASCO strengthens our resolve to work even harder to encourage research and find a cure. "

After Kim’s father was diagnosed with the disease, she began to search for treatment options and was alarmed to find that pancreatic cancer has one of the lowest successful treatment rates of all cancers, with a five-year survival rate of less than 5%. Compounding these statistics was the lack of research funding then available for pancreatic cancer. "While good progress was being made in early detection, research, and treatment programs for some cancers, this was clearly not the case for pancreatic cancer,” she recalled. “The combination of few research dollars results in few researchers, and that equals very little scientific progress."

After networking with others who wanted to find a cure, Kim turned their ensuing discussion and ideas into action and in 1999, co-founded PanCAN. In the five years since the organization’s inception, the tireless efforts of Kim and dedicated PanCAN staff and volunteers have had a dramatic impact on the national profile of pancreatic cancer. In 2000, at the urging of PanCAN advocates on Capitol Hill, the National Cancer Institute ( NCI ) established the Pancreatic Cancer Progress Review Group ( PRG ), a panel of experts convened to review the state of pancreatic cancer research and to make recommendations on future courses of action. Based on the findings of the PRG , the NCI created the first pancreatic cancer-specific Specialized Programs of Research Excellence (SPORE) grant, designed to support the translational research of an interdisciplinary team of investigators from the public or private sector with more than $2 million in funding for up to five years. The creation of the SPORE was a triumph for Kim and PanCAN, and an indication of the enormous influence that the organization has had in shaping federal opinion and policy related to pancreatic cancer.

PanCAN also works on its own to support beginning clinical investigators with a primary research focus on pancreatic cancer. PanCAN is sponsoring a 2004 Young Investigator Award in honor of Samuel Stroum, the third research grant it has provided through The ASCO Foundation Grants Program. Kim is hopeful about the effect PanCAN’s sponsorship of ASCO grants will have on beginning oncologists as they narrow their specialty focuses.

"Partnering with The ASCO Foundation for the groundbreaking Clinical Research Career Development and Young Investigator Awards has helped provide early career researchers with greater opportunities in the field of pancreatic cancer and has begun to fill the void by advancing research efforts," said Kim.

About Pancreatic Cancer

Pancreatic cancer is the 4 th leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. for men and women. Approximately 31,860 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year in the United States , and the majority—31,270 men and women—will die, according to PanCAN. Despite the fact that 99 percent of pancreatic cancer sufferers die, the federal government invests less money in pancreatic cancer than any other leading cause of cancer mortality.

About PanCAN

PanCAN is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1999 by surviving family members of individuals who died of pancreatic cancer. Chartered as a grassroots organization of advocacy for pancreatic cancer patients and their families, PanCAN currently has volunteers and members throughout the United States and around the world. PanCAN is the first, national public-benefit advocacy organization for the pancreatic cancer community. The organization works to focus national attention on the need to find a cure for pancreatic cancer, and provides public and professional education embracing the urgent need for more research, effective treatments, prevention programs and early detection methods. Visit www.pancan.org to obtain more information, e-mail info@pancan.org, or call 1-877-272-6226 .

###

Media Contacts:

Aaron Kiel/Jennifer Beaver
PanCAN Public Relations
Phone: 562-983-8113 / 562-983-8117
Email: akiel@akprgroup.com

Company Contacts:

Julie Fleshman
PanCAN President & CEO
Phone: 310-725-0025
Email: jfleshman@pancan.org