Risk Factors and Symptoms of Pancreatic Cancer

The second Let’s Learn webinar from Let’s Win and the National Alliance for Hispanic Health’s Nuestras Voces program focused on the risk factors and symptoms of pancreatic cancer.

Our webinar on Risk Factors and Symptoms of Pancreatic Cancer was held on Wednesday, October 25th. The webinar features oncologist Dr. Shaalan Beg and gastroenterologist Dr. Oscar Alvarez discussing how the combination of risk factors and symptoms can lead doctors to think of pancreatic cancer. The moderator is Juan Pellerano-Rendon, a pancreatic cancer advocate who lost his mother to the disease.

About 64,000 people are found to have pancreatic cancer each year in the U.S., with a slightly higher rate of occurrence in Black Americans. The five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is about 12 percent, in part because the disease is often diagnosed at an advanced stage.

Pancreatic cancer symptoms are common to many other less-lethal conditions. By putting together symptoms and risk factors, gastroenterologists and primary care doctors can recognize the possibility that the patient has pancreatic cancer and get testing started as early as possible. Earlier diagnosis leads to more treatment options and a better survival rate.

Watch the webinar above and download the presentation.