Makes you wonder how Steve Jobs (and Ted Kennedy and John McCain, for that matter) missed undergoing the procedures RGB received to beat cancer “four times”—including pancreatic. Or whatever was done for Jimmy Carter that helped him beat brain cancer.
He cancer is in the body and tail of the pancreas. This is different from pancreas cancer in the head, which usually includes bile ducts and often spreads to the liver before it’s discovered. Her’s did not.
The operation for the tail is less intrusive and the chemo is more effective. The overall 5 year rate for stage IV body and tail is as high as 25%.
For Stage Iv pancreatic head cancer it is about 6-9%, with a median life span measured in months. For her’s it’s measured in years.
Early detection is the key. People who do not go to the doctor on a regular basis will find themselves dead before they even know it. There are few external symptoms.