To the editor:

On Nov. 17, the Board of Selectman of Belmont signed a proclamation to designate the month of November as “Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month” in the Town of Belmont.

The proclamation will help raise awareness about this devastating disease and encourage our elected officials to make fighting pancreatic cancer a priority. We must support our fellow citizens who have been afflicted by this disease and advocate for greater awareness and more resources to fight pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer patients and their loved ones cannot wait any longer. It is essential that we make research into pancreatic cancer a priority in this country so that real progress can be made toward better treatment options, early detection, and a cure. The relative five-year survival rate is still in the single digits at just six percent. Even more alarming, pancreatic cancer is anticipated to move from the fourth to the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the U.S. by 2020. This year alone this terrible disease will claim the lives of 920 people who live in the state of Massachusetts.

I am a volunteer for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network and am grateful to Belmont for issuing an Awareness Proclamation that recognizes November as National Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.   

Mary Hayden

Pancreatic Cancer Action Network volunteer

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