After losing both his wife to pancreatic cancer - she was initially told it was just IBS - Peter Kirkman is pushing to raise awareness of the illness and help charity Pancreatic Cancer UK roll out a groundbreaking screening test.
Peter, 75, had been with wife Pam for more than thirty years when, in 2015, she was diagnosed with cancer. They were living in Scotland at the time. Like many, Pam's pancreatic cancer was diagnosed very late, and it was inoperable. She died 10 months later aged just 63.
Not long after, Peter saw a close friend and that friend's sister died due to the disease too.
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"She basically had a tummy ache," he told ChronicleLive. "It was put down to IBS. That's the problem with pancreatic cancer - it's quite difficult to diagnose. Symptoms can be very similar to just indigestion or back pain or tummy pain. And for Pam it was put down to that at first."
Peter said: "It's life changing. You are never the same again. To suddenly realise she isn't going to be here in a years’ time. And then what do you do? How do you cope with this? How do we not live together?"
Peter also lost a close friend - who had helped him cope while Pam was ill - not long afterwards. Looking forward, the father and grandfather said it's vital to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer - particularly against a post-Covid-19 backdrop of people being diagnosed with cancer later than they'd have been otherwise. He added: "I am hoping to do whatever I can to help Pancreatic Cancer UK. They're desperate for funding - pancreatic cancer is the biggest killer among common cancers.
"It’s horrible that survival rates haven’t changed for pancreatic cancer in decades. In my case I have to try and help in whichever way I can. It’s a killer. There was a lady in Barnard castle who died six days after diagnosis. That’s horrible; not even being able to make a plan or come to terms with it.
"We need to beat pancreatic cancer. Research is very underfunded. Aretha Franklin and Patrick Swayze, all these people who suffered from it. People know the names but don’t know how they died. We need to try and make them aware."
CT scans are the only tools currently available to GPs to help diagnose pancreatic cancer, and the charity Pancreatic Cancer UK says there were "worryingly inconsistent" access to these for those suspected of having the disease. The charity's figures show one in five people are not being diagnosed until after their cancer has already spread.
The charity is now urging the public to help fund the development of a first-of-its-kind blood test being developed for the disease. The test has proven accurate in trials so far, but the charity needs help to fund the next phase of research.
Diana Jupp, the charity's chief exec, said: "'Sorry, it’s too late. We can’t save you' are the devastating words that 80% of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer will hear this year, the same words the majority of patients and their loved ones have been hearing for the last 50 years. We have hardly made any progress.
"We simply cannot allow this to continue, not when we have seen the game-changing impact early diagnosis research has had for breast, prostate and other common cancers. We have to give doctors the innovative new tools they need to detect the warning signs earlier, so they can ensure those who need it, receive treatment as soon as possible."
Peter is also organising a 5k cross-country run and walk for Pancreatic Cancer UK and the Great Northern Air Ambulance on July 30 in Cotherstone, Teesdale. To support Pancreatic Cancer UK, visit pancreaticcancer.org.uk/
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