AK HCR1

Proclaims November 2011 to be Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month in Alaska.

Notes that an estimated 43,140 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in the United States in 2010, with 36,800 deaths, making it the fourth leading cause of cancer death.

Identifies that 75 percent of pancreatic cancer patients die within one year of diagnosis and 94 percent within five years, with incidence 50 percent higher in African-Americans than other ethnic groups.

States that pancreatic cancer research funding represents only 2 percent of the National Cancer Institute's federal research funding, despite the disease's severity and limited survival rate improvements over 40 years.

Recognizes the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network's work on public policy, research funding, patient services, and public awareness efforts in the state and nationwide.