Help us reach our goal to find the cure for pancreatic cancer
Please help us fight pancreatic cancer. Donate to the Carlo Blangiardo foundation and help us find a cure.
The Carlo Blangiardo Foundation
Carlo Blangiardo lost his battle with pancreatic cancer on November 11, 2009. He was only 35 years old. Carlo's greatest wish is
that we continue his fight and kick pancreatic cancer to the curb.SOME FACTS ABOUT PANCREATIC CANCER
- An estimated 43,140 Americans will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the U.S., and over 36,800 will die from the disease.
- Pancreatic cancer is one of the few cancers for which survival has not improved substantially over nearly 40 years.
- Pancreatic cancer is the 4th leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States.
- Pancreatic cancer has the highest mortality rate of all major cancers. 94% of pancreatic cancer patients will die within five years of diagnosis and only 6% will survive more than five years. 75% of patients die within the first year of diagnosis.
- The average life expectancy after diagnosis with metastatic disease is just three to six months.
- Few risk factors for developing pancreatic cancer are defined. Family history of the disease, smoking, age, and diabetes are risk factors.
- Pancreatic cancer may cause only vague symptoms that could indicate many different conditions within the abdomen or gastrointestinal tract.
- Symptoms include pain (usually abdominal or back pain), weight loss, jaundice (yellowing of the skin and eyes), loss of appetite, nausea, changes in stool, and diabetes.
- Pancreatic cancer is a leading cause of cancer death largely because there are no detection tools to diagnose the disease in its early stages when surgical removal of the tumor is still possible.
- The National Cancer Institute (NCI) spent an estimated $89.4 million on pancreatic cancer research in 2009. This represented a mere 2% of the NCI's approximate $5 billion cancer research budget for that year.
The money will go to Dr. Abou-Alfa, Carlo's onchologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering. It is tremendous that thanks to your help, funds are going directly to trying to find a cure for this disease.