In September 2012, 52 Boston Scientific employees, family members, and friends joined the Lustgarten Foundation's New England Pancreatic Cancer Research Walk, to help raise awareness of pancreatic cancer. Boston Scientific was an official sponsor of the Walk.

While the Walk may be over, the need to educate people on pancreatic cancer is ongoing.

Facts

• Pancreatic cancer is labeled a silent disease because many times the signs and symptoms can go unnoticed until the cancer is in the advanced stage.
• The overall five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is 6%.
• An estimated 44,000 Americans will be diagnosed in 2012 and more than 37,000 will die.
• There are no early detection tests, no effective treatments and, unless the cancer is surgically removed in its earliest stages, no cure.

Thanks to Research by the Lustgarten Foundation

• We know more about the genetic makeup of this cancer than any other cancer.
• Families are being examined to determine which genes cause hereditary pancreatic cancer.
• Research to determine targeted treatments is now underway.
• Early detection tests are in development, including blood tests, scanning technologies, and genetic screening.
• Vaccines are being tested for treating pancreatic cancer.

For more information, visit the Lustgarten Foundation.