Demand Survival Now calls upon the government to commit to a series of changes.

It says pancreatic cancer has been absent from cancer strategies and plans ‘far too often’ leading to stagnating survival rates.

Releasing the national plan, Pancreatic Cancer UK said: “Other cancers have benefited from targeted government awareness initiatives, optimal diagnostic and treatment pathways, audits, and directed research strategies.

“But pancreatic cancer has been left behind.

“Not only has survival stagnated, the survival gap between pancreatic cancer and other common cancers has doubled over the last 50 years.”

The national plan focuses on three key areas – research, quality of care and public awareness.

Research

Demand Survival Now calls for a £25 million annual investment into pancreatic cancer.

It says this would start to change survival odds and reverse the ‘historic legacy’ of under funding.

Care

Around 10,000 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year.

However, Pancreatic Cancer UK says there is a ‘lack of consistency’ in treatment and no guarantee patients will experience the nationally-recommended best standard of care.

There is no assurance they will have access to the fast-track pathways or optimal care models shown to improve survival.

The standard of care in the UK is falling behind the rest of Europe, with lower early-stage diagnosis, less people receiving surgery and one of the worst survival outcomes.

The UK currently ranks 29th out of 33 countries for five-year survival.

Pancreatic Cancer UK argues more people would survive, or survive longer, if everyone with pancreatic cancer received the optimal standard of care.

Public awareness

Pancreatic cancer has vague and non-specific symptoms, it lacks a simple test for detection and there is poor public awareness of the symptoms.

As a result, it remains exceptionally difficult to diagnose at an early stage.

Pancreatic Cancer UK says a dedicated awareness campaign could enable more people with pancreatic cancer to be identified at an earlier stage where treatment is more likely. This could help to transform the odds of survival.

Download and read the full report here.

Thousands of supporters have already backed a petition calling on the government to make the changes.