Most Adults Lack Knowledge About Pancreatic Cancer

TUESDAY, Nov. 5, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Most people continue to believe that pancreatic cancer affects only the elderly and that there is nothing they can do to reduce their risk, according to the results of a new survey from The Ohio State University.

A national web- and telephone-based survey (Oct. 4 to 7) of 1,004 respondents was conducted by The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center (OSUCCC) Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute.

More than half of adults younger than 50 years (53 percent) said they would not recognize the early signs or symptoms of pancreatic cancer. Roughly one-third of respondents said there is nothing they can do to change their risk for the disease (37 percent) and that only older adults are at risk (33 percent). Just over half of survey respondents (54 percent) knew that genetic testing could help them understand if they should be screened for pancreatic cancer.

“This disease is too often a silent killer, with no symptoms until it has progressed to less treatable stages,” Zobeida Cruz-Monserrate, Ph.D., co-leader of the OSUCCC James Molecular Carcinogenesis and Chemoprevention Program, said in a statement. “We must continue to aggressively pursue research that will help us prevent, diagnose, and treat this disease more effectively.”

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