Miles Briggs MSP has pledged his support to Pancreatic Cancer UK’s campaign demanding faster treatment for people with pancreatic cancer – three in four patients with the disease die within a year of diagnosis making it the quickest killing cancer.
The charity is calling for the Scottish Government to set a new ambition to begin treatment for all pancreatic cancer patients across the UK within 20 days of diagnosis by 2024.
At an event to highlight Pancreatic Cancer UK’s Demand Faster Treatment campaign in Holyrood, Miles Briggs MSP heard that if avoidable delays to treatment were removed many more pancreatic cancer patients could be eligible for surgery – the only current cure for the disease.
To help achieve this ambition the charity is recommending the roll-out of a new treatment programme which in a recent trial successfully reduced patients’ time to surgery from two months to just over two weeks.
Miles Briggs, Scottish Conservative Lothian MSP, said: “119 people in Lothian Health Board are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year and tragically less than seven per cent will survive beyond five years.
“This is unacceptable and much more needs to be done to improve the outcomes for people with this deadly disease.
“I hope everyone in Lothian will join me in backing this campaign to transform the future for people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and help them receive treatment before it is too late.”
Diana Jupp, Chief Executive Officer of Pancreatic Cancer UK, said: “We’re extremely grateful Miles Briggs MSP has shown his support for our Demand Faster Treatment campaign.
“Too many pancreatic cancer patients are being denied their only chance of survival because they are simply not being treated fast enough.
“Three in four people diagnosed with this devastating disease die within a year, making it the quickest killing cancer.
“It’s so ferocious that patients cannot afford to wait. In recent years we have seen outstanding progress in other cancers such as breast and prostate, and a shocking lack of progress for pancreatic. Together we can change that.
“We are urging people from Lothian to take on this deadly cancer and sign our petition calling on the government to recognise pancreatic cancer as an emergency. We owe it to all those affected by pancreatic cancer to be more ambitious and make sure that everyone is treated within 20 days of diagnosis.”
Picture: Andrew Cowan
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