Oklahoma City, OK -- Pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S., with 35,240 deaths each year and 42,470 new cases diagnosed each year. In Oklahoma, we average more than one pancreatic cancer diagnoses every day of the year.

To increase awareness of pancreatic cancer in Oklahoma, the Oklahoma Pancreatic Cancer Support Groups will sponsor the Fifth Annual Garden Walk for Pancreatic Cancer Hope & Awareness, Saturday, November 7. The Walk will take place through the gardens of the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC).

The featured speaker for this year’s event is Shubham Pant, M.D., OU Cancer Institute medical oncologist. His presentation will focus on new treatment strategies and innovative clinical trials. He will describe ongoing programs providing the groundwork for improved healthcare for pancreatic cancer patients. His presentation will be followed by an open question and answer period for all who attend.

Highlights of the Garden Walk program will include comments by Lieutenant Governor Jari Askins and the presentation of a Proclamation from the Governor’s office declaring November as Pancreatic Cancer Month. Jay Stern, representing the Oklahoma Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, will recognize the Cherokee Nation and 31 Oklahoma cities and counties issuing similar proclamations and will emphasize the importance of raising awareness in our state.

The Garden Walk will be led through the gardens of the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center (OUHSC) with commentary by Bobby Jackson, director of the OUHSC Landscaping Services. Jackson’s commentary will include the history and mission of the gardens as they relate to patients, as well as the campus and Oklahoma City communities.

Registration for the event begins at 8:30 a.m., at the Biomedical Research Center, 975 N.E. 10th Street. The program will begin at 9:00 a.m. Refreshments will be served during registration and after the Garden Walk.

Seventy-five percent of patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer will be taken by the disease within 12 months of diagnosis. Five percent will survive for five years. The median survival time following diagnosis is six months.

Pancreatic Cancer symptoms are very general and vague and usually present only late in the disease after the cancer has already spread to other organs.

“Unfortunately, by the time we become aware of the cancer’s existence, it has been present for quite some time and has already spread from its original site,” said Russell Postier, M.D., chair, department of surgery, OU College of Medicine. He explained that the pancreas is located deep inside the body and early tumors cannot be seen or felt by health care providers during routine physical exams and there are no blood tests to find early cancers of the pancreas. However, three groups of scientists at the OUHSC and VA Medical Center are currently involved in the study of sera from pancreatic cancer patients to identify blood-borne biomarkers that are unique for pancreatic cancer patients. Establishment of such sera-derived biomarkers will facilitate the development of early detection strategies for pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic Cancer Support Group meetings are held the second Tuesday of each month in Tulsa and the last Thursday of each month in Oklahoma City. The support groups are partnered with the Southwest Program for Pancreatic Cancer, OU Physicians Surgery and the OU Cancer Institute.

There is no charge to the public to attend the Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Garden Walk and anyone is welcome to participate. For more information, call Dan Brackett at (405) 271-2108 or visit the website at http://w3.ouhsc.edu/surgery/pancan/index.htm

The OU Cancer Institute is unique in Oklahoma in that it combines significant research programs with the highest standard of patient services and training for the next generation of health care professionals. Staffed by doctors from OU Physicians, the state's largest physician group, the OU Cancer Institute is on track to be designated as Oklahoma's only "comprehensive cancer center" by the National Cancer Institute. Multidisciplinary teams of OU Physicians provide cancer patients with the highest standard of care as they move the latest research into the newest treatment options.