World Pancreatic Awareness Month is observed in the month of November. This story is the first of a two-part series on pancreatic cancer. The second will explore the experiences of patients and oncologists in battling the disease.
PANCREATIC cancer is like an ambush on the body, developing rapidly, relentlessly and without remorse.
In most cases, pancreatic cancer patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage when surgery and treatment prove futile. Patients and their families are often told by doctors to prepare for "the inevitable" which usually happens in a matter of months.
For this reason, the John E Sabga Foundation (JESF) and similar organisations around the world are desperate to advance research for effective remedies.
World Pancreatic Cancer Day is recognised on November 17 amidst a month-long observance. JESF heading a series of initiatives to raise awareness and encourage participation in its efforts to raise funding for research.
JESF, a member of the World Pancreatic Cancer Coalition – a body comprising 100 organisations from 40 countries – is led by cancer advocate Natalie Sabga, whose husband John Sabga died from pancreatic cancer in 2017, nine months after he was diagnosed, at just 54.
As uncommon as pancreatic cancer seems, it has taken other well-known victims at home, including writer and curator of Facebook's Virtual Museum of TT Angelo Bissessarsingh, who died in 2017, at 34.
[caption id="attachment_987064" align="alignnone" width="405"] John Sabga died from pancreatic cancer in 2017, nine months after he was diagnosed, at just 54. -[/caption]
Bissessarsingh stands out as an anomaly, as he was diagnosed two years before his death, at the fourth and last stage of the cancer.
Perhaps one of the longest survivors of pancreatic cancer locally, Candy Chin Choy, was diagnosed 11 years ago.
Legendary tenor Luciano Pavarotti, Jeopardy host Alex Trebek, singer Aretha Franklin and Apple founder Steve Jobs are just some of the many world-famous figures who have died from the disease.
Sabga and her husband spared no expense and effort in search for a successful remedy, as remote as the chances were, she told Newsday.
"We went all over America (after the diagnosis). We went from the east coast to west and saw many doctors in search of a cure or at least some sort of treatment, and nothing worked.
"When I came back to Trinidad, I was so defeated, because I realised that (with) pancreatic cancer, the drugs are not getting through to the pancreas because the pancreas tumours normally have a tissue around it called a stroma (a dense layer of tissue which creates difficulties in treatment reaching the tumour)."
PanCan, a leading international organisation dedicated to the fight against pancreatic cancer, notes that the cancer begins when abnormal cells in the pancreas grow and divide out of control and form a tumour.
[caption id="attachment_987063" align="alignnone" width="683"] Candy Chin Choy, a survivor of pancreatic cancer for over 11 years. -[/caption]
The pancreas
