A pancreatic cancer campaign in which sufferers claim “envy” of other cancers has sparked a surge in awareness of disease.
Charity Pancreatic Cancer Action caused a worldwide debate when it started a campaign with sufferers who said they wished they had a different form of the disease.
The online and poster campaign sparked an angry reaction, including more than 100 complaints to the Advertising Standards Agency, with many condemning the charity for suggesting one cancer was preferable to another.
But a new study conducted by Populus has revealed 43% of people who recognised the campaign are now more aware of the hard-to-spot symptoms associated with pancreatic cancer.
Among the sufferers to take part in the campaign was 43-year-old paramedic Andy Luck, who is now battling a second bout of the disease after previously surviving radiotherapy, chemotherapy and an operation to remove the tumour.
Andy (pictured right) who is married and lives in Lesmahagow, South Lanarkshire, said: “I’m glad it has had an effect.
“If it saves one person’s life by raising awareness it has been worthwhile.
“But to have so many people now more aware of the symptoms is fantastic. It has exceeded my expectations.”
The campaign was designed to highlight the fact that five-year survival rates for pancreatic cancer have remained at 3% for 40 years while other cancers have seen vast improvements.
Andy, who said in the advert he wished he had testicular cancer, claims people found the campaign offensive because they failed to take it in context.
He said: “If somebody said ‘I will give you a 97% chance of living or 3%’, what would you choose?
“That is what I am facing.”
Andy saw his mum Mary-Ann die of the disease seven years ago, and believes his grandad was also a
victim, though he was so ill by the time cancer was discovered no further diagnosis was made.
And he was only saved from the same fate by a medical instinct gained over two decades as a paramedic.
He added: “It is such a vague set of symptoms. They kept medicating me with antacids.
“Eventually I went and had a private scan which showed a swelling, that something maybe was not quite right.
“It was not until a CT scan that I got the diagnosis.”
Ali Stunt, who is founder of the charity and a pancreatic cancer survivor, said: “The campaign has gone far and wide.
“It has courted some controversy, but what we have managed to do is raise awareness of pancreatic cancer most definitely, among not only the British population but globally too.
“There has been a 200% uplift in the number of views of the symptoms page of our website, so we know more people are aware of pancreatic cancer and the campaign has been a success.”
Symptoms
The most common types of cancer of the pancreas are exocrine tumours. The symptoms can be quite vague and vary depending on whether the
cancer is in the head, body or tail of the pancreas. Early symptoms can include weight loss, pain in the stomach area and jaundice.
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