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ABC News

Health

Pancreatic cancer under spotlight as cities light up in purple in November to raise deadly disease's profile

Cancer Disease Breast Cancer

For almost two decades, Judi Adams has shone a light on breast cancer, raising awareness and hundreds of thousands of dollars for medical research.

She organised for Tasmania's landmarks to be lit pink in October to prompt people to do life-saving things, like self breast-checks, have medical screenings and to talk about the disease.

Ms Adams had been inspired to join the fight against breast cancer after the death of a dear friend in 1996, whose mother and sister also died from the disease.

She was the volunteer chair of the Hobart committee of the National Breast Cancer Foundation for 14 years, raised more than $400,000 for research, and was named 2018 Tasmanian Local Hero for her efforts.

After moving to Brisbane in 2018 she brought Pinktober to Queensland's capital, doing the same work to light the city pink.

Then, in 2021, Ms Adams started getting stomach pain and back pain — which she put down to sedentary work — until she experienced a loss of appetite "overnight".

An 8-centimetre tumour had been growing in her pancreas.

Now, battling pancreatic cancer, Ms Adams has turned her advocacy towards raising the profile of the deadly disease.

She has teamed up with PanKind Australia, the Australian Pancreatic Cancer Foundation, to light capital cities across Australia in purple on World Pancreatic Cancer day, the third Thursday of November every year, to raise awareness.

"I'm focusing my energy now on a little-known disease that people often don't even realise exists until they have a diagnosis," Ms Adams said.

"Lighting the landmarks is only part of the journey, people can see the pretty lights and think, 'Oh, something's lit up' and not realise what it's about.

"Even if only one person sees this, and it prompts them to do something, that's a good result, if it turns out that they've caught something early."

Pancreatic cancer is often diagnosed late in the progression of the disease, contributing to a survival rate of just 11.5 per cent on average, and 6 per cent for regional, rural and remote patients, PanKind says.

Disease claims almost as many lives as breast cancer

PanKind Australia chief executive Michelle Stewart said the charity wanted the lit-up landmarks to start conversations about the disease, which claimed almost as many lives as breast cancer did last year.

"Almost 4,000 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year, and 80 per cent of patients will die within 12 months," she said.

"It has the lowest survival rates of all main cancer types."

Ms Stewart said fewer longer-term survivors had meant pancreatic cancer remained under the radar.

"Less money raised by charities means that the early-stage research does not receive as much funding and therefore the projects are less competitive in the larger grant schemes," she said.

"We need more focus on a national level and increased funding for research, which is the key to lifting survival rates."

Ms Adams wants people to know the subtle signs of pancreatic cancer.(ABC Brisbane: Antonia O'Flaherty)

Symptoms can be 'non-specific'

After she was diagnosed, Ms Adams joined the QIMR Berghofer's Pathways Study, investigating the early symptoms of pancreatic cancer and which symptoms led to a diagnosis.

"So I suppose my message after my diagnosis is: I'd just like people to be aware of any changes, even if they seem to be unrelated symptoms, tell your GP everything that's going on with your body," Ms Adams said.

"The earlier you detect this, the more chances you have of survival."

More than 80 people have completed the Pathways Study so far, with an average age of 65.

Of the preliminary results, most participants experienced more than one symptom that they thought was related to their pancreatic-cancer diagnosis.

Abdominal pain and back pain were the most commonly reported symptoms, changed bowel habits and signs of jaundice were also among the symptoms.

Lead researcher Rachel Neale said these symptoms could be quite common and most people who experienced them would likely have another less serious condition.

"That's why pancreatic cancer can be difficult to diagnose – the symptoms are often non-specific, and they can overlap with various other diseases and ailments," she said.

"It's important that we continue to hear from pancreatic-cancer patients through the Pathways Study, to better understand the combinations of symptoms that indicate when the pancreas should be investigated for quicker diagnosis."

Alongside the research, QIMR Berghofer is running another trial, called PROcESS, investigating the impact on carers if they talk to a trained nurse and counsellor as they care for loved ones with pancreatic cancer, for which they still need more than 100 participants.

PanKind, as part of the Australian Pancreatic Cancer Alliance, has organised for the following locations to be lit across Australia: