FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November is National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month
Raise Your Voice and Lend Your Support

Los Angeles, CA (November 1, 2007) – Every November, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN)— the leader in the fight against pancreatic cancer and the only national organization creating hope in a comprehensive way through research, patient support, community outreach and advocacy for a cure— implements a robust local, regional and national agenda of activities aimed to increase awareness and funding for pancreatic cancer. As the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the US, pancreatic cancer remains the most under-funded of the five leading cancers in the US. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) spent only 1.5% of their $4.7 billion cancer research budget on pancreatic cancer research in 2006.

Legislation recognizing November as National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month passed in both the United States House and Senate earlier this fall. PanCAN volunteers from around the country, played an integral role in reaching out to the legislators that took initiative on the resolution.

"PanCAN is committed to informing and inspiring Americans to get involved during November, and throughout the year, in the fight against this deadly disease," said Julie Fleshman, President and CEO, The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. "Our hope is that by involving more people in our awareness-building and fundraising activities, we will help to positively impact scientific progress in the pancreatic cancer community."

Pancreatic cancer claims more than 33,000 American lives each year, yet scientific advancements -- better diagnostic tools, more effective treatment options and opportunities to find a cure -- remain somewhat stagnant. In fact, pancreatic cancer research is at the same level that breast cancer research was in the 1930s. PanCAN is doing its part to impact change; in fact, PanCAN has committed to funding 37 researchers with $3.5 million in research funds.

Earlier this year, PanCAN hosted a Summit on Pancreatic Cancer. Sixty of the world's leading pancreatic cancer investigators from the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, and Spain, as well as other luminaries of the biological sciences, assembled to discuss different approaches to studying pancreatic cancer and which show the most promise.

"The gathering of these elite scientists demonstrates PanCAN's commitment to moving the science forward, to encourage scientists and researchers to work collaboratively and cooperatively, and to coordinating their efforts to produce discoveries that have the greatest potential to benefit patients," continued Fleshman.

One of PanCAN's major initiatives during Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month in November is the Raise Your Voice Campaign, www.pancan.org/raiseyourvoice, which encourages people to get involved in increasing visibility for this under-recognized disease. Everyone is encouraged to share key pancreatic cancer statistics with friends, send ecards about pancreatic cancer, write Op/Ed pieces for their local newspapers, set-up personal fundraising pages, send letters to their elected officials. People are also encouraged to create videos to post on YouTube and join PanCAN's MySpace site and share their personal stories related to pancreatic cancer. On November 15th, PanCAN is asking everyone across the US to be part of PanCAN's Picture Your World Purple initiative, (purple is the official color of pancreatic cancer.) and get creative with purple at work, home, school, anywhere!

During November PanCAN calls upon all Americans to join in and raise awareness and funding for research. For further information on how to get involved, please visit www.pancan.org or call 1-877-272-6226.

About the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network
The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, Inc. (PanCAN) was founded in 1999. PanCAN is the leader in the fight against pancreatic cancer. PanCAN is the only national organization creating hope in a comprehensive way through research, patient support, community outreach and advocacy for a cure.

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network supports its mission by directly funding research, and demanding that the federal government increase research dollars for pancreatic cancer; by providing patients and caregivers with reliable, no-cost information to make informed decisions with their healthcare teams; and by helping individuals and communities work together to raise awareness and funds to find a cure for pancreatic cancer. PanCAN creates hope and a sense of community so that anyone suffering from pancreatic cancer never has to feel alone.

MEDIA CONTACTS
Darby Pearson
Spectrum Science Communications
(202) 955.6222, ext. 2585
dpearson@spectrumscience.com

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