PANCREATIC cancer is the deadliest common cancer in Britain and has seen very little improvement to survival rates in over 50 years.
Former England football manager Sven-Goran Eriksson, 75, revealed on Thursday he is terminally ill with the disease and will be lucky to survive another year.
APSven-Goran Eriksson, pictured in 2011, announced he has incurable pancreatic cancer[/caption]
GettyThe Swede managed the English national football team for five years[/caption]
The Swede, who led the Three Lions from 2001 to 2006, revealed he kept his diagnosis secret for a year to spend happy times with his family.
He said he was diagnosed by chance while being checked over by doctors after a stroke.
Sven said doctors told him they would be unable to operate, and would instead give him treatment and medicine to live “as long as possible”.
He added: “When you get a message like that, I think you appreciate every day and you’re happy when you wake up in the morning and you feel okay.”
Actors Alan Rickman and Patrick Swayze, Apple founder Steve Jobs and singer Aretha Franklin all also died of the disease.
It attacks the pancreas, a vital organ about the size of your hand that produces enzymes to break down food and insulin to control blood sugar.
Around 10,500 people are diagnosed with the disease every year in the UK and half of cases are not found until the tumour is at stage four and has already spread.
Often it has no symptoms or they are mistaken for something else, but warning signs can include:
Yellowing eyes or skin (jaundice)
Darker pee and paler poo than usual
Loss of appetite
Unexplained weight loss
Tiredness or lack of energy
Difficulty spotting the condition means the survival rate is low because treatment is often too late.
Just seven per cent of patients survive for five years or more after being told they have the disease.
This makes it the deadliest of the 22 most common cancers in Britain and the second deadliest overall, after mesothelioma.
Three in four pancreatic cancer patients – 76 per cent – die within the first year.
Approximately 9,600 people die of the disease every year in the UK – more than one per hour.
Diana Jupp, CEO of Pancreatic Cancer UK, said: “We are so sorry to hear that Sven has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
“Tragically, only a quarter of people with pancreatic cancer live for a year after diagnosis.
“While significant improvements have been made in many types of cancer, there has been an unacceptable lack of progress in pancreatic cancer, where survival has barely improved in 50 years.
“Too little money has been invested in research into better, more effective treatments, and early diagnosis.
“Pancreatic cancer’s symptoms – such as back pain, indigestion, and changes to back pain – are common to many much less serious health conditions, so diagnosing it early, when it is most treatable, is a huge challenge for doctors.
“We need government to commit to investing £35million in pancreatic cancer and prioritise a disease which has been overlooked for too long.”
Pancreatic Cancer UK’s support line staffed by nurses is on 0808 801 0707 or for more information visit: www.pancreaticcancer.org.uk/support.