Select Board sends letter of support for pancreatic cancer legislation

Back in 2013, Dartmouth’s Brock Cordeiro returned home from some meetings in Boston when he noticed his father’s unusual absence.

As it turns out, Norman Cordeiro had gone to St. Luke’s Hospital, where he spent a few days undergoing testing that would lead to his pancreatic cancer diagnosis. 

Brock said his family was hopeful at first, with doctors suggesting a Whipple procedure, which only a few patients qualify for because the cancer has to be localized enough. 

However, when Norman went in for the procedure, doctors realized the cancer had already spread far beyond what was operable. 

Norman was given six months to live. He lived for six months and 12 days.

At the time, the survival rate for pancreatic cancer was around 6%. It sits at the number two spot for deadliest cancer in the state and third across the nation, with 73% of people dying within a year of diagnosis. Though it is relatively rare, it makes up 3% of all cancers in the U.S.

The survival rate has since gone up to 13%, but Brock imagines a future when 20% to 25% of patients survive, which is why he has made it his mission since then to raise awareness about the disease.

Because of where the pancreas is located, signs and symptoms don’t start appearing until the cancer has already progressed, he explained, and even then, the symptoms are vague.

Early detection is key for this cancer, but there is no diagnostic test, such as a blood test, at this time beyond observation, such as imaging and biopsies, Brock said. 

At the Monday, Aug. 18 Select Board meeting, he secured a letter of support for House Bill 2432, which is an act to reduce incident and death from pancreatic cancer. 

If passed, the act would establish a comprehensive pancreatic education, awareness and early detection program within the state’s Department of Public Health. It aims to improve outcomes through better access to diagnostic tools, increased provider education and support for at-risk populations.

It’s no surprise the board agreed to submit the letter, with the Town Hall having been lit bright purple in support of Pancreatic Cancer Awareness last November. Additionally, the town has shared a proclamation in support of raising awareness of the disease. 

“I talk to my daughter sometimes about this because my biggest problem is I can’t make them care,” Brock told the board. “And maybe I can’t make them care, but maybe we can make them take notice and be aware.”

With his father having lived in town since the 1970s, he said it felt only fitting that the fight begins here, hoping it spreads across the commonwealth. 

And although it won’t help his father and isn’t for himself, he said, “It is there for those who are diagnosed yesterday, today and tomorrow.”

Select Board Chair Heidi Silva Brooks said, “Massachusetts prides itself in being a medical research capital, so if anyone should do it, it should be us.”