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Please help:

Money raised by the Alliance is used to fund a dedicated pancreatic cancer clinical trials program at UMass and to support research through the international Pancreatic Cancer Research Team .


Next PCA Meeting

Wed., June 26, 2013 6:00pm,
on the 1st floor of ACC building at UMass.
Click for Directions.
To learn more, please email Info@PancreaticAlliance.org.

Arturo's Fusion Sunday

June 23, 2013
3-7 Under the Big White tent at
Arturo's
55 E. Main Street
Westboro, MA

Tickets are $35 each
Click here for details

Audrey Kurlan, PCA Chair and Founding Member Honored

The Woman of Consequence Award recognizes women who have made significant contributions to the community, are exceptional leaders, volunteers or professionals, and are positive role models.
Click here to read the article

Helpful Resources


Understanding Pancreatic Cancer











Call the UMass HOPE Line

at 866-597-HOPE (4673) if you suspect you have cancer or have received a cancer diagnosis. You?ll be seen by a cancer specialist within five business days or, if it?s urgent, within 24 to 48 hours.

Have you or a loved one been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer?

You are not alone in this fight.

The Pancreatic Cancer Alliance exists to support you in your fight against pancreatic cancer. We are a local organization in Central Massachusetts of patients and families affected by pancreatic cancer.

On this web site, you'll find links to resources available on the Internet, information on research being undertaken at the University of Massachusetts in Worcester, links to news stories about the struggle as well as information on how you can support research to bring the kinds of advances needed to conquer this underfunded disease.

Pancreatic cancer research lags behind the tremendous strides made in the fight against leukemia, breast cancer, and AIDS. Pancreatic cancer, the nation's 4th leading cancer killer, ranks just 11th in research funding from the National Cancer Institute. The NCI spent just $74.2 million to fight pancreatic cancer in 2006. (Here's a spreadsheet detailing NCI spending.) As a result, the five-year survival rate is little changed in the past 30 years, while huge strides have been made in fighting other cancers.

Tomorrow we can do better. The new Cancer Research Center at the University of Massachusetts Medical School in Worcester has accepted the challenge of pancreatic cancer research and to use that research to help patients as soon as possible — with pancreatic cancer there is no time to wait. Dr. Jennifer LaFemina, as a member of the UMass Pancreas Program, is assembling an extraordinary research and medical team for the UMass Pancreas Program.

To speed their work, the Pancreatic Cancer Alliance, a group of volunteers who have been affected by this devastating illness, has formed. We're current patients, caregivers, and medical professionals and we're family members and friends of those claimed by this terrible disease.

Awareness posters

We've got posters and info sheets for you to post at your school or place of work. Click for PDF file: Pancreatic Cancer poster, or Pancreatic Cancer info sheet. They were created for the Nov. awareness month, but the message is year round.

Alliance funds clinical trials program

Please help: Money raised by the Alliance is being used to fund a dedicated pancreatic cancer clinical trials program at UMass and to support research through the international Pancreatic Cancer Research Team (www.pcrt.org). Open clinical trials at UMass.

Public awareness is crucial for pancreatic cancer research

Brian Davis, a founding member of the Pancreatic Cancer Alliance, had the following Oped article published in the Worcester Telegram and Gazette on May 23, 2005. Brian lost his struggle with pancreatic cancer on Sept 17, 2005

UMass Pancreas Program

UMass Surgical Outcomes & Analysis focuses on improving outcomes for patients undergoing surgery for pancreatic cancer.
New website for the UMass Pancreas Program highlights the collaboration between researchers and clinicians to improve care at UMass. Both efforts are supported by Alliance fundraising.

Links of note

Stories of hope and survival from Pancreatica.org Read about long-term pancreatic cancer survivors.