To the editor:

 

The Dartmouth Select Board unanimously voted at their meeting on October 7 to officially proclaim November to be Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month. I am filled with "Dartmouth Pride" as while our town, which is usually associated with the colors Green and White, will temporarily become a beautiful shade of PURPLE, the color of Pancreatic Cancer Awareness, when Town Hall is lit up on World Pancreatic Cancer Day 2024 (November 21) as well as during the Select Board meeting nights (November 4 and 18). THANK YOU! 

 

Pancreatic Cancer Awareness is of the utmost importance as early detection is essential it tremendously increases a person’s chances of survival. My father was not so fortunate. Norman Cordeiro of Dartmouth was diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer in 2013 and died at the age of 66-years-old on March 30, 2014, at St. Luke's Hospital. My dad courageously survived for 6 months and 12 days following his failed Whipple Procedure — an invasive and complicated surgery with success rates no better than one in four — if you're fortunate enough to be a candidate.

 

In 2024, the American Cancer Society estimates that 1,470 people in Massachusetts will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and there will be 1,140 deaths. Pancreatic cancer has a 5-year survival rate of only 13% but that has increased 3% since 2020, when pancreatic cancer rose out of the single digits! The survival rate was only 6% when my dad developed the disease in 2013. Despite this wonderful progress the survival rate remains among the lowest of any major cancer! Over 70% of pancreatic cancer patients will die in the first year of their diagnosis. Nationally, pancreatic cancer is the third deadliest cancer (behind lung & colorectal cancers) and its forecast to become #2 by 2030. In Massachusetts, pancreatic cancer is the second deadliest cancer, behind only lung cancer.

 

Early detection is crucial in the fight for cancer survival! Early detection of pancreatic cancer is extremely difficult because there are no standard screening tests and symptoms can be hard to spot. Pancreatic cancer is most often not detected until it is in its latest stage. Risk factors include family history, long-standing diabetes, chronic and hereditary pancreatitis, smoking, race/ethnicity: African-American or Ashkenazi, age: over age 60, diets high in red and processed meats, and obesity.

 

Thank you also to our friends and neighbors throughout the SouthCoast as Mayor Jon Mitchell of New Bedford will issue a similar proclamation and light his City Hall purple throughout November. Throughout the Commonwealth, Senator Joanne Comerford, Representative Hannah Kane, and the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network of Massachusetts (ACSCAN MA) are hosting a virtual Pancreatic Cancer Awareness event on Wednesday, November 20 from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m.

 

Dartmouth's own legislators, Representative Chris Markey and Senator Mark Montigny, were joined in cosponsoring an act to reduce incidence and death from pancreatic cancer with 93 of their bipartisan colleagues from across Massachusetts during the 2023-24 legislative session. The legislation, which I co-authored the bill with ACSCAN MA, enacts the recommendations of the final report of the Special Legislative Commission to Study Pancreatic Cancer. Our bill earned a favorable recommendation from the Joint Committee on Public Health and will be refiled in January for the 2025-26 session. Blue Democrats and Red Republicans are united in Purple advocacy to defeat pancreatic cancer!

 

We, the People, are leading the way for early detection and to better patient outcomes — for survival — by marching forward as a Great Purple Army proudly carrying the purple banner of Pancreatic Cancer Awareness. Let us continue being bright purple lights dispelling the darkness! To everyone giving your support and advocacy: THANK YOU!

 

Sincerely, 

 

Brock N. Cordeiro