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CURE’s pancreatic cancer page features the latest cancer news and updates on pancreatic cancer Through articles, videos, podcasts, and more, CURE brings readers the insights of experts, cancer survivors, patients, and advocates to ensure everyone is up to date in pancreatic cancer.

’s life changed forever when her husband was diagnosed with advanced colorectal cancer, and then just four years later, her sister with pancreatic cancer. Now, 20-plus years later, Couric is working with Merck’s Your Cancer Game Plan to offer her younger self advice.

A new program called “With Love, Me” features a series of heartfelt letters written by caregivers and cancer survivors to their newly diagnosed selves and other caregivers, touching upon what they wish they had known when they were diagnosed and/or first giving care.

Couric’s advice to herself? “You may feel alone, but you’re not alone.”

In this week’s episode, we spoke with legendary broadcast journalist Katie Couric about serving as a cancer caregiver and her new initiative with Merck’s Your Cancer Game Plan, called “With Love, Me.”

Katie Couric: Advice to My Younger Self

The FDA approved several drugs in December for the treatment of diseases, including pancreatic adenocarcinoma, lung cancer, skin cancer and graft-versus-host disease.

Cancer Therapies Approved by the FDA in December 2024

With breakthroughs from melanoma to pancreatic cancer, this has been a year of great promise in the field of cancer vaccines.

Top FDA Approvals of Oncology Therapies in 2024

The FDA has approved the first systemic therapy for patients with NSCLC or pancreatic adenocarcinoma with an NRG1 gene fusion.

FDA Approves Bizengri for Some with NSCLC, Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma

Patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer demonstrated a two-month difference in survival with tumor-treating fields versus chemotherapy.

Phase 3 Study for Advanced Pancreatic Cancer Meets Survival Goal

Pancreatic cancer is a difficult disease to treat and one that has not benefited from many new therapies in recent years. That’s why the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network is sponsoring a clinical trial that will test a variety of medicines in different groups of patients at the same time, which will speed up research and could lead to quicker drug approvals.

, the study’s lead investigator, Dr. Andrew Hendifar, explained how 

 SM is different from other clinical trials by comparing a circus to a movie theater. With traditional clinical trials, Hendifar said, “You go from one town to another, you set up this big tent, you get everything in there, you have your performance, then you close up the tent, and you leave town.”

“Precision Promise is permanent… like a movie theater. Instead of setting up the circus, all you have to do is just change the reel, and you'll play a different movie each time.”

Hendifar, who is also medical director of the Pancreatic Center, and an assistant professor of medicine at Cedars-Sinai in Los Angeles, went on to detail how this trial design will hopefully save money and make it easier for patients to access care, all while bringing new therapies to market faster.

A big problem with pancreas cancer trials designed to date has been, unfortunately, when the results are that this medication that we're studying is not working very well, it takes a long time to learn. And sometimes that takes three or four years to finally get to the result that this medication is not something we should be looking at further. And to compound that, most clinical trials, because they're asking a very specific question, they don't have the ability to answer some of the questions that are facing pancreatic cancer patients in general.

So, when we came together as physicians, as educators, as patients, as patient advocates, as institutions, we really started to try to figure out how can we do this differently, because the disease is so difficult, patients are suffering such a great deal, breakthroughs are happening at a slow pace, we have to do something different. And when we got everybody together, it was funny, because when we first started out thinking about how to do this the right way, we had some good ideas, but we also had a lot of bad ideas. And it took many, many years for us to realize that the only way to do this successfully would be an adaptive, platform-based trial that we have today.

So, in this trial that we're doing, it's unlike other trials. I consider most clinical trials like a circus: you go from one town to another, you set up this big tent, you get everything in there, you have your performance, then you close up the tent, and you leave town. And a lot of clinical trials are like that: they're temporary, they answer one question, they leave.

Precision Promise is permanent, is going to be here forever, hopefully, or for a long time. And what it does is, it's like a movie theater. Instead of setting up the circus, all you have to do is just change the reel, and you'll play a different movie each time. And whatever is going to work is going to work. And if it doesn't work, you just simply pull that out and you put a new reel in.

What's really neat about Precision Promise and about using an adaptive trial, is that the patients are randomized not just based on what's available but based on what's working the best. So, we can answer questions more quickly. So, the cream will rise to the top, good studies that are working really well will fill up quickly, and we'll get our answer quickly.

A usual trial uses a control arm. In every study, patients hate that part of it. They're like, I want to be on a study, but I don't want to be on a placebo. That's the number one complaint. I totally get it; who would want to be on placebo on a clinical trial? But the good thing about a platform trial is, instead of comparing one new medicine to a placebo, you're comparing 10 new medicines to a placebo. So that means that only one out of the 10 have to be on a placebo arm versus one out of two. So, it becomes a much more efficient way to study this.

And then another thing that's really neat about the control arm and Precision Promise is that it's something that becomes permanent. It becomes its own story: what's the standard of care for pancreas cancer? As time goes on, the control arm changes because we do change how we do things. And that and that control arm will adapt as well. So, in that sense, the trial is very, very innovative, very patient-friendly, clinician friendly, and we're incredibly excited to do it.

It also brings the cost down for clinical trials and an immense amount. If you think about it, you don't have to pay to set up all the infrastructure, the infrastructure is already there, you don't have to pay to break it back down. It's more efficient in terms of the number of patients that you need, because you have a control arm that exists in perpetuity, you don't have to enroll a new control arm for each study. So that makes the trials much more affordable. And we hope that that means that some of the ideas we can develop don't have to depend on who has the biggest bankroll or who has the most money. We're excited about that part too.

And because this is a permanent study, and it's really designed to improve the care of pancreas cancer, we're able to answer questions that are not just what's the best new medicine? Sometimes the question questions are simply, you know, do pancreatic enzymes help patients with this disease? So, we're going to help try to answer that question.

We're going to (learn about) physical fitness. How important is that if you have pancreas cancer? We're able to answer that question by giving FitBits to patients who are on the trial.

We're also going to try to answer questions, does do treatments, and different interventions change your body composition? We're able to, you know, have the expertise and study those types of questions. So, because it's a more permanent structure, we're really able to do things and most clinical trials can’t.

The research process for pancreatic cancer is long and difficult, but a new method of clinical trials is looking to adapt to a growing field and find ways to speed up research without losing efficiency.

Adaptive Clinical Trial Design Aims to Accelerate Research and Approvals in Pancreatic Cancer 

From the bench to the bed, the doctors and researchers at the Penn Pancreatic Cancer Research Center (University of Pennsylvania) examine all different aspects of pancreatic cancer in an effort to find better treatments.

These researchers are taking a closer look at genetics, the tumor microenvironment, and the immune system, among others.

The doctors and researchers at the Penn Pancreatic Cancer Research Center (Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania) examine different aspects of pancreatic cancer to find better treatments.
 

Hope For All Stages

Rachel Moreno knew she would need family support while getting treatment for pancreatic cancer, so she moved to her son’s house in Michigan.

This proved to be a crucial decision because she found a doctor who offered her a clinical trial rather than the standard treatment. Now back home in Arizona, Rachel is grateful for the choice she made.

Relocating for Pancreatic Cancer Treatment and a Clinical Trial.

Rachel Moreno credits long-term survivor status to her choice to move to her son's in Michigan for treatment, where she found a doctor and a clinical trial.
 

You Can Win This Fight

In the phase 3 POLO trial looking at Lynparza (olaparib), a PARP inhibitor, as maintenance therapy for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer and an inherited BRCA mutation, researchers weren’t able to identify the clinical characteristics of patients whose cancer rapidly progressed, according to Dr. Teresa Macarulla.

At the start of the trial, there were already patients with more advanced cancer compared with other patients, and through the course of the study the patients with advanced disease didn’t benefit as well as the rest of the trial participants.

During the annual American Society of Clinical Oncology Gastrointestinal Cancers symposium, Macarulla, a gastrointestinal oncologist at the Vall d’Hebron Institute of Oncology in Barcelona, Spain, presented updated study findings and also spoke with 

There's a percentage of patients that are included in the POLO trial that progress rapidly. We define this population as those patients that progress within the first four months of the randomization after the organization, so in the second CT scan.

Unfortunately, we see that the numbers are not so high, because the number of the total population of the trial is not so high, and it’s difficult to define the clinical characteristics of the patients in this group. It is true that those patients at the beginning presented worse general status or worse performing status. In that, are those patients that it seems that are more likely to be rapid progressors, but we cannot identify more than this.

A subset of patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer and an inherited BRCA mutation rapidly progressed during a clinical trial of Lynparza.

Updates From a PARP Inhibitor Clinical Trial for Patients with Metastatic Pancreatic Cancer

Debbie Ryan was the head coach at a Division I women’s basketball program when she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2000.

She used her own coaching philosophy to help during treatment, and relied on the support of family, coaching staff, players, and the university community. She also bonded with fellow pancreatic cancer patient Emily Couric, and together they outlined their ideal cancer center, now the Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center.

Debbie reminds other cancer patients to stay balanced and approach treatment “one foot in front of the other.”

Debbie Ryan was the head coach at a Division I women’s basketball program when she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2000. During treatment, she bonded with fellow pancreatic cancer patient Emily Couric, and together they outlined their ideal cancer center, now the Emily Couric Clinical Cancer Center.
 

Stay in the Moment

Being proactive about pancreatic cancer monitoring was the right move—Steve’s doctor found a cyst and a small tumor developing on his pancreas and was able to catch the disease in its earliest stages.

The brothers knew that cancer occurred frequently in their family, and they knew they carried the BRCA2 mutation. But in 2009, when Steve and other siblings joined the screening study, they did not know about the link between the BRCA mutations and pancreatic cancer. Now Scott and Steve advocate for early detection of pancreatic cancer and raise awareness of the link between genetic mutations and the disease.

Read more about the Nelson brothers in their treatment story “

Younger Brother’s Pancreatic Cancer Leads to Regular Screening for his Oldest Brother

After Scott Nelson was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, his older brother Steve joined a pancreatic cancer screening study.
 

Identify Your Risk Early

Because pancreatic cancer is very difficult to treat, you may want to consider participating in a clinical trial. In a trial you may get access to the latest treatments that are otherwise not available. You will also help advance the science of pancreatic cancer treatment. Participating is not without risks, but you may be helped. Participating also allows you to help those who come after you, by adding helpful information to the knowledge base. Today, people are living longer lives from successful pancreatic cancer treatments that are the result of past clinical trials.

Many clinical trials are underway for patients in all stages of pancreatic cancer. Some of the ongoing clinical trials include different combinations of currently approved chemotherapy drugs, chemotherapy before surgery, immunotherapy, treatments to break down the stroma (the supportive tissue surrounding the tumor), the use of targeted agents, and trials based on tumor type or genetic profiles.

Currently, fewer than 5 percent of pancreatic cancer patients are enrolled in clinical trials. Some patients are too ill to participate, but many others are just not aware of the potential benefits of trials. Clinical trials are important and should be seriously considered as part of pancreatic cancer treatment. You should discuss participating with your medical team.

Our short animation explains how to find a clinical trial that may be right for you and shows how to apply to participate.

Finding a Clinical Trial

Marisa Harris is a 20-year plus survivor of stage IV pancreatic cancer. After being told she was medically incurable and untreatable, she took a leave from her job and started researching those who defied the odds and survived. Today Marisa is thriving.

Reimagining the Possible: A 20-Year Survivor of Pancreatic Cancer

In this Survivors Series—Year Two video, meet the doctors and researchers working to find new treatments and early screening tests for pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic cancer doctors and researchers share what motivates them to do better for pancreatic cancer patients.

Hope on the Horizon

The PSA focuses on the need for more information about the best treatment options, to help change the narrative around pancreatic cancer. “Pancreatic cancer disproportionally affects people of color,” states Elvin Howard, Jr., President of the foundation. The partners aim to raise awareness of the risk factors and symptoms of pancreatic cancer, and how to find proper treatment for this disease.

Along with members of the Howard family and Let’s Win Founding Executive Director Cindy Gavin, the PSA features noted pancreatic cancer specialist Dr. Allyson Ocean and BRCA awareness advocate Erika Stallings, who is raising awareness about the prevalence of BRCA mutations in Blacks and Latinx.

The Elvin Howard, Sr. Pancreatic Cancer Advocacy Foundation (Elvin Howard, Sr. PCAF) and Let’s Win have released a new public service announcement (PSA) to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer in people of color.

Let's Win and the Elvin Howard, Sr. PCAF Raise Awareness with a New PSA

 Can you give background on the National Pancreas Foundation and its efforts?

 So the National Pancreas Foundation was one of the first nonprofits that was created a little over 23 years ago, with the purpose of raising awareness in the community at large regarding pancreatic cancer and pancreatic disease, but with the real mission of not only raising awareness, but raising research dollars from the private sector to help fund young researchers and research efforts into pancreatic cancer and pancreatic disease.

We used to say pancreatic cancer was the fifth leading cause of death. People are becoming more aware of what a tough, hard disease this is. It was one of those orphaned disease that nobody really wanted to talk about, and nobody wanted to really think about it. And so it made it hard to raise money to fund research. And so that's why we thought when we got involved, that it was really important for us to structure the National Pancreas Foundation as a national organization. When we first were thinking about a foundation, some people can think very narrowly, and put their own name on it. But when you put a name like the National Pancreas Foundation, the idea in the model was to be more of a federal system where you would have different statewide chapters where people on a very localized basis, could have an impact in their own community, and come to the national platform for resources, and assistance, and help. And so that's kind of the way we've envisioned it in the way it's gone forward. And I think very successfully. You don't really start to understand something until you put a name on it and then you start talking about it. And you wake people up to what resources and help is potentially out there, if they're unfortunate enough to encounter this disease in their family.

What is your mission in the pancreatic cancer space?

Our mission in the pancreatic space for the National Pancreas Foundation has several missions. At one point in time, our focus was on really addressing the cure rate. We have a great team of doctors in the National Pancreas Foundation, who know all the statistics. The statistics were bad, somewhere like 95% or 96% of people who were diagnosed passed away from the disease within a short period of time, within two years. And we had a goal at one time of really focusing on increasing that survival rate, start bringing it up a percentage. And I think right now, we're close to 10% survival rate. People don’t think moving from 94% to 90% is good, but they should talk to the 4% who are now alive today because of the research that has been supported in large part by the National Pancreas Foundation and other nonprofits in the same space.

And right now, I think that our mission is focused on pancreatic cancer, increasing the survival rate. We also have a very big focus on early detection and really trying to get people sensitized to the fact that early detection is really important. It really helps to increase people's survival rates when they are diagnosed early. We're a little bit unique, the National Pancreas Foundation, in that we not only have a focus on pancreatic cancer, but we also have an intense focus on pancreatic disease, in general, such as pancreatitis, and particularly a pediatric pancreatitis for young children who are impacted by that terrible disease as well. Our mission is broad, and we fund lots of research grants each year. That's a real important mission of ours from the very beginning. We run the organization, very leanly. We have 93% of every dollar that's contributed to the National Pancreas Foundation goes into programs and research.

How can patients and family members learn more about the National Pancreas Foundation and how can they get involved?

 Learning about them is as easy as going to the website, which I think we, in more recent years, have done a very good job of having a very good website, and exploring that website. And then reaching out to people at the national level. As I indicated earlier, we see ourselves as more of a federation as it were, because we have about 30 statewide chapters now. And those chapters are very much a reflection of the hard work of people in their own communities, and connecting with their own communities, connecting with nearby hospitals, and encouraging those hospitals to become centers of excellence, under the standards that are set forth by the National Pancreas Foundation. People want to connect in their own communities. And that is a very important mission of the NPF.

Right, we're not a top-down driven organization, we provide knowledge, resources and information at the national level, and hopefully support the good work of our chapters in their local communities. And that's very important because most of this is community-based. So if somebody has someone who's afflicted, and if you can get that person information, and you can raise awareness and you can help that person, get to the right physicians get to the right center, and get good nutrition information, which is on our website, and get good patient support. All of that is really critical and when you see people get involved, it's empowering for people to get involved in their statewide chapters. And if there isn't a chapter, start one, and ask us how they can start and get support from our great staff and team to have a local chapter. I find that so rewarding.

To bring it all together, why is advocacy and awareness around pancreatic cancer so important?

I think that it really goes back to what I said before, and that is knowledge and awareness is power. It's empowering for people. And I think that the worst feeling in the world is when a person is diagnosed out of the blue with this disease or has a family member that's diagnosed with this disease and feels powerless. That lack of power, and that emptiness is palpable, in my experience, with this disease. And, you know, I can't tell you how many people over the years have contacted us…That is what awareness does, it empowers the patient. And it empowers the patient's family, for the tough fight that's ahead. And it is a tough fight. There's no doubt about that. But it's like all fights, you know, it's going to be a tough fight. And you've got to arm yourself up with knowledge and awareness at the earliest moment, and I think that's the value of advocacy and awareness. Advocacy for us at the NPF we're very involved with the federal government, the NIH. We can raise more funds and can direct funds in the right places a lot better. We will try to raise millions of dollars. The federal government can direct millions of dollars to the right research programs into the right places. And one thing the NPF does is get very organized in that regard. And we've got one of our co-founders and others within our organization who are really well placed. One thing that I always called the secret weapon for the National Pancreas Foundation over the years was that we have some of the best doctors in the world on our board…And even though we were a smaller organization, we didn't have as much money that gave us the critical edge of those doctors understanding what was going on in the pancreatic cancer field, and in the pancreatitis field, and directing our research dollars in the right place. It's like betting on the right horse is so important, and being able to provide what we call seed funding for key researchers who can then go on, once they get the grants from us, and go to the NIH, and get really big money that will allow them to go on and prove their research and prove out their theory. So, advocacy is really important. It's an important part of the mission of the NPF.

Raising Awareness

 What kind of questions should patients be asking when they're told of their pancreatic cancer diagnosis?

Pancreatic Cancer

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