Chronicle: Trying to beat pancreatic cancer
Anchor/Reporter: Rob McCartney
Updated: 10:48 PM CDT March 26, 2019
Getting a pancreatic cancer diagnosis can be life-ending. But not always.
Because the cancer often goes un-diagnosed until it spreads to other organs, the fatality rate is steep.
Statistics show about 75% of people die within the first year of being diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. That number jumps to about 90% after five years.
There is some promising research being done at various facilities around the world.
Nebraska state senators are considering a measure that would target $15 million for pancreatic cancer research at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
On this edition of KETV Newswatch 7 Chronicle, Rob McCartney talks with John Emery about how he has been cancer free more than two years after a pancreatic cancer diagnosis. State Senator Mark Kolterman talks about his effort to increase funding for research in Nebraska after losing his wife to pancreatic cancer in 2017. Dr. Amir Zahra also lost family members to the disease and he talks about symptoms and some of the research being done.