Sir,
Shockingly, despite pancreatic cancer being the deadliest common cancer, half of all pancreatic cancer patients are not prescribed the inexpensive tablets they need to stop them starving.
As chief executive of Pancreatic Cancer UK, I am deeply concerned that so many patients are missing out on this medication – called Pancreatic Enzyme Replacement Therapy (PERT) – which is just as vital for people with pancreatic cancer as insulin is for those with diabetes.
The main cause is a lack of awareness among health professionals, who do a wonderful job caring for people, but don’t specialise in the disease or treat pancreatic cancer patients as frequently as those with other more common types of cancer.