A Cardiff woman joins the call for faster treatment of pancreatic cancer

A woman whose mother and brother have died of pancreatic cancer has joined calls for faster treatment after diagnosis.

Pancreatic Cancer The UK wants a 20-day treatment goal by 2024.

Charlotte Thomas, 43, of Cardiff, said losing her mother, Mavis Dallinger, 59, in 2001, was a "living nightmare", followed by her brother Mark Merry, 51, in October 2017.

The Welsh government has stated that it expects people with any cancer "to be treated as quickly as possible".

Pancreatic Cancer UK UK reported that one in four people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer had died in less than a month and three in four in one year.

The executive director, Diana Jupp, said that they "were denied their only chance of survival simply because they were not treated quickly enough".

The charity hopes to launch an accelerated surgery pilot project jointly funded by the Birmingham University Hospital's NHS Foundation Trust.

This allowed to spend from two months to just over two weeks the surgery in 32 patients – 31 had their tumor removed successfully.

He also wants to create one-stop shops with all the necessary tests to determine whether a person can be operated and where specialized nurses coordinate care with the appropriate services.

"In recent years, we have seen remarkable progress in other cancers, such as those in the breast and prostate, and a shocking lack of progress for the pancreas," said Ms. Jupp.

Thomas said that currently diagnosed patients were sent home for weeks to decide how to treat them.

She described this as "psychological torture" for her brother.

A spokesman for the Welsh government said: "Pancreatic cancer tends to be difficult to identify in its early stages, easier to treat.

"However, clinicians can prioritize patients based on the severity of their illness."

"Stolen from their future"

Ms. Dallinger was diagnosed in January 2001 and died in December.

When his son started experiencing similar symptoms in February 2016, he underwent a CT scan and was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

The liver had spread and he could not be operated on. It could only be offered palliative care. He lived 20 months until his death in October 2017.

Ms. Thomas said, "My wonderful mom passed away and she was only 59. She felt that her future had been stolen from her, like most people with pancreatic cancer when they receive a diagnosis.

"When my brother phoned me from A & E to tell him that he had the same thing as Mom, he completely destroyed me.

"At first, we thought that since 15 years had passed since we lost our mother, we must be able to do something for my brother, there must be a different prognosis or a different treatment.

"Then we were so full of fear because we knew what our mother had lived and we feared it was exactly the same for Mark, it was a living nightmare.

"For my brother, the worst thing to do was to know how it affected him psychologically, he felt that his future had been stolen from him and he did not want to be that person with cancer.

"Mark was taking powerful steroids for pain and I think they were affecting his mind.

"The hospital gave her some ketamine and the most powerful pain medication they could find, just to regain her body and her life.

"My niece actually had her head on her chest when her heart stopped … The only comfort was that he was not in pain anymore."