Florida Times-Union 1-Apr-01
The woman on the phone was emotional.
She was about to receive chemotherapy treatment for pancreatic cancer. Why doesn’t the Times-Union write more about this disease? The survival rate is much worse for cancer of the pancreas than for breast cancer, she said.
I couldn’t get her call out of my mind. So I did a little checking. Though I am not minimizing the severity of breast cancer, it does appear that pancreas cancer deserves more attention.
Here are some facts from the American Cancer Society:
- An estimated 28,200 Americans died from pancreatic cancer in 2000.
- For all stages combined, the one-year relative survival rate for people with pancreatic cancer is only 19 percent, and the five-year rate is 4 percent.
- Cancer of the pancreas generally occurs without symptoms until it is in advanced stages.
- Very little is known about what causes the disease or how to prevent it. Risk increases with age. Incidence rates are more than twice as high for smokers as for non-smokers. Some studies have suggested associations with chronic pancreatitis, diabetes and cirrhosis. Pancreatic cancer rates are higher in countries with a diet high in fat.
Newspaper as buffet
A newspaper offers a sampling of news and feature stories. Sometimes, however, the dessert is missing.
Readers called last week about these missing features:
- There was minimal coverage of Michelle Kwan winning the world figure skating championship last weekend. My comments: OK, the Sports staff was busy with The Players Championship, but there are readers, especially women, who enjoy figure skating.
- Wedding and engagement announcement forms ought to be available on the Times-Union’s Web site. My comment: I agree. The idea is long overdue, and it is in the works. Readers will be able to print them out. A signature is needed, so e-mail isn’t an option.
- A reader complained that Believe it or Not was cut in the Sunday comics. My comments: It was cut for advertising. The reader asked why not rotate the comics that are cut? That would mean cutting popular strips. The policy is to cut comics that finish low in the comics surveys.
- The college men’s basketball tournament scores weren’t available on InfoTouch, the recorded telephone service of the Times-Union. My comment: For readers without Internet access, InfoTouch still serves a purpose. To find a list of InfoTouch codes, check the A-1 index.
- A reader complained that Tiger Woods didn’t deserve so much front-page coverage last Sunday when Jerry Kelly still was leading The Players Championship. My comment: Based on his previous experience, Tiger making a charge and threatening to win his first title here is bigger news than a player who has never won a tournament on the tour. Kelly was covered in the Sports section.
Did you know?
- You can find contact information for the reader advocate on the bottom of A-2 every day.
- Most opinion columns can be identified by the photo of the writer. Columns represent only that writer’s views.
- You usually can find lists of support groups in Tuesday’s Lifestyle section and lists of volunteer opportunities in Monday’s Lifestyle section.
Sunday, April 1st, 2001
See the Columns Archive.
