Pancreatic cancer symptoms are often non-specific and easily mistaken for less serious diseases. In addition, there is currently no reliable screening test that would allow the disease to be detected in time. This was pointed out by the patient organization No Cancer on the occasion of World Pancreatic Cancer Day.
According to the organization, warning signs include abdominal or back pain, unexplained weight loss, jaundice, loss of appetite or persistent indigestion. “According to the latest data from the National Center for Health Information, approximately 900 people die of pancreatic cancer in our country every year,” pointed out the director of the National Oncology Institute, Jana Trautenberger Ricová. The organization specified that pancreatic cancer is the ninth most common cancer in Slovakia the most common oncological diagnosis, but it is also among the diseases with the fifth highest mortality rate.
Jana Pifflová Španková from No Cancer explained that the organization also participated in the establishment of a platform for pancreatic cancer in recent years. “The motivation for establishing the platform was also the fact that it is a disease with the lowest survival rate, only eight to 14 percent of patients survive five years after diagnosis,” she noted.
She also pointed out the economic burden of pancreatic cancer for individuals, healthcare systems and society. According to her, drug treatment represents only six percent of all direct costs. “Most of the economic burden is made up of other components of care, such as hospitalizations or operations. Thus, the sum of indirect costs is higher than direct costs, which reflects the difficult course of the disease, long-term work absences and a high number of premature deaths.” she stated.
As Pifflová Španková added, they provide help to patients not only in person in patient consultations at the six largest oncology workplaces in Slovakia, but also through modern support tools. “One of them is the Help Map, which allows patients to easily search for specialists in the fields of gastroenterology, surgery or oncology. Another comprehensive guide – from the first steps of diagnosis to treatment and psychosocial support – is our orientation material Patient Path,” explained.
The organization is also the founder of the first Slovak registry for pancreatic cancer SlovPAC, which was created in close cooperation with experts. The register collects key data on risk factors, disease course and treatment.
