This Is Why Pancreatic Cancer Is So Hard to Treat

Denise Mann, MSDenise Mann, MSUpdated: Jun. 30, 2022

Pancreatic cancer is difficult to treat largely because the early signs are vague, the cancer is highly aggressive, and no screening test exists yet. But the future is starting to look hopeful.

Sources
  • ABC: "'Jeopardy!' host Alex Trebek on outpouring of support for cancer battle: 'My gosh, it makes me feel so good'"
  • Pancreatic Cancer Action Network: "Pancreatic Cancer Still on Path to Become Second Leading Cause of Cancer-Related Death in U.S. by 2020"
  • Timothy Donahue, MD, chief of the division of surgical oncology and professor of surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA
  • Pancreatic Cancer Action Network: "Pancreatic Cancer Survival Rate Reaches 10%"
  • Nathan Bahary, MD, PhD, an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and a medical oncologist and hematologist at the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center
Originally Published: June 04, 2020

Denise Mann, MS
Denise Mann, MS
Denise Mann is a freelance health writer whose articles regularly appear in WebMD, HealthDay, and other consumer health portals. She has received numerous awards, including the Arthritis Foundation's Northeast Region Prize for Online Journalism; the Excellence in Women's Health Research Journalism Award; the Journalistic Achievement Award from the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery; National Newsmaker of the Year by the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America; the Gold Award for Best Service Journalism from the Magazine Association of the Southeast; a Bronze Award from The American Society of Healthcare Publication Editors (for a cover story she wrote in Plastic Surgery Practice magazine); and an honorable mention in the International Osteoporosis Foundation Journalism Awards. She was part of the writing team awarded a 2008 Sigma Delta Chi award for her part in a WebMD series on autism. Her first foray into health reporting was with the Medical Tribune News Service, where her articles appeared regularly in such newspapers as the Detroit Free Press, Chicago Sun-Times, Dallas Morning News, and Los Angeles Daily News. Mann received a graduate degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., and her undergraduate degree from Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pa. She lives in New York with her husband David; sons Teddy and Evan; and their miniature schnauzer, Perri Winkle Blu.