Pancreatic Cancer

In rejecting PSA screening for prostate cancer, an influential federal panel has chipped a cornerstone of preventive medicine, declaring that it's not always best to catch cancer as early as possible. "At best, PSA screening may help only 1 man in 1,000 avoid death from prostate cancer," the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force said Monday. "Most prostate cancers found by PSA screening are slow growing, not life threatening, and will not cause a man any harm during his lifetime.

M ARIA SHRIVER didn't indicate anything was amiss in her marriage to Arnold Schwarzenegger when she thanked East Falls' Harry Jay Katz , an old friend, for sending the couple a bottle of vinegar that his wife, Debra Renee Cruz , made for their 25th anniversary on April 26. Katz, who befriended Shriver in the 1970s when she worked for KYW-TV, attended the couple's wedding in Hyannis, Mass. "Thanks for thinking of us and sending wishes on our special day," Shriver wrote in a letter.

Peter P. King, 68, of Ambler, owner of King Surety, died of pancreatic cancer Thursday, June 17, at home. Mr. King graduated from Abington High School and attended St. Joseph's University. During the Vietnam War, he served in the Army Security Agency, then the Army's signal intelligence branch, in Chitose, Japan. After his discharge, he studied business at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and worked for an insurance agency. In 1974, he established the King Co., an insurance and bond agency located in Fort Washington and later in Jenkintown.

Bernard L. Siegel, 73, of Northeast Philadelphia, a criminal lawyer and educator, died Tuesday, Jan. 17, of pancreatic cancer at Manor Care in Huntingdon Valley. After establishing a law practice in Center City in 1986, Mr. Siegel represented clients charged with robbery, rape, homicide, corruption, and embezzlement and was involved in several high-profile cases. In 1997, he was the attorney for Herbert Haak in the "Center City jogger" murder trial. On Nov. 2, 1995, Kimberly Ernest, 26, was found fatally beaten in a stairwell at 21st and Pine Streets.

In a report that could have worldwide implications, the Rohm & Haas Co. said yesterday that a study of employees at its Bridesburg plant showed for the first time that there might be a link between workers' exposure to the insecticide DDT and pancreatic cancer. The study is the first to link DDT to cancer in people, officials at the Environmental Protection Agency said. If additional studies show that DDT causes cancer it could lead to worldwide restrictions on the use and manufacture of the insecticide, said Albert Heier, an EPA spokesman.

Colgate basketball coach Jack Bruen said yesterday that he plans to stay involved with his team even though doctors tell him he has pancreatic cancer. "I've been to every practice and don't intend to miss any," Bruen said. "If treatment dictates something different later, we will deal with the situation at that time. " Bruen, 48, is beginning his ninth season with the Red Raiders and has led the team to a 106-124 record. During his tenure, Colgate has won a share of three Patriot League regular-season titles, won two Patriot League tournaments and appeared twice in the NCAA tournament.

Sometimes in science, what you get wrong can be just as important as what you get right. Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania set out two years ago to prove that a new drug could marshal T cells, key players in the immune system, against pancreatic cancer. That didn't happen. Instead, the experimental antibody turned more primitive immune-system cells that often get co-opted into helping pancreatic cancer tumors against part of the tumor structure. Tumors shrank substantially in some patients, and median survival time lengthened by two months, to 7.4 months.

Pancreatic cancer is notoriously lethal - there are almost as many deaths from it each year as there are new cases. The deaths in recent days of Apple cofounder Steve Jobs and Nobelist Ralph Steinman bring unusual attention to this less well-known type of cancer that has been declining despite no big advances in care or finding it early. A decline in smoking, one of the top risk factors for the disease, may be behind the drop in cases. Jobs lived more than seven years after being diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumor - a less common, slower-growing, and more treatable type of pancreatic cancer than the kind that killed Steinman a week ago and actor Patrick Swayze two years ago. The Apple chief kept details of his illness behind a fire wall and declared he was cured after cancer surgery in 2004.

I WOULD PERSONALLY like to thank Dr. Randy Pausch, who recently passed away, for all of his dedicated work in promoting awareness of pancreatic cancer and the lack of adequate funding from the federal government. Pancreatic cancer is an insidious disease with no known cause, no known cure and little money devoted to research. It claims almost as many American lives as breast cancer each year, twice as many as AIDS and has the poorest five-year survival rate of any cancer, at only 5 percent.

Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson received a resolution from the city, recognizing him for the work of the DeSean Jackson Foundat10n in raising awareness about pancreatic cancer and working to find a cure. The resolution is timed to the foundation's plans for "10/10/10 Day," an effort to inform 10 people of 10 awareness facts and to donate $10 to the DeSean Jackson Foundat10n on Oct. 10, 2010. Jackson's father, Bill, died from pancreatic cancer. "DeSean Jackson is a phenomenal athlete; however pancreatic cancer is not a game," Councilman Curtis Jones Jr. said in a statement.

DeSean Jackson can relate to LeSean McCoy. Both were second-round picks. Both became Pro Bowl pieces of the Eagles offense while still on modest, by NFL standards, rookie deals. But while Jackson held out of training camp last summer before playing out the final year of his contract, he urged McCoy to take a different approach as he enters the last year of his deal this offseason. "I think it would be in his best interest to come" to offseason practices and camp, Jackson said Friday.

In Friday's issue, parts of this story were garbled or left out because of a production error. The entire story is reprinted here.   It was Joyce Parker's final wish. As the original Miss Tootsie - whose premier soul-food restaurant at 13th and South bore her nickname - lay dying of pancreatic cancer last year, she made her son, Keven, promise to "get the work done. " Keven understood exactly what she meant. Giving back was always in Joyce Parker's DNA. Even before there was a Miss Tootsie's - which Keven has since expanded and transformed from a neighborhood spot into the luxe Miss Tootsie's Restaurant Bar Lounge - Joyce would find a way to help those in need.

It was Joyce Parker's final wish. As the original Miss Tootsie — whose premier soul-food restaurant at 13th and South bore her nickname — lay dying of pancreatic cancer last year, she made her son, Keven, promise to "get the work done. " Keven understood exactly what she meant. Giving back was always in Joyce Parker's DNA. Even before there was a Miss Tootsie's — which Keven has since expanded and transformed from a neighborhood spot into the luxe Miss Tootsie's Restaurant Bar Lounge — Joyce would find a way to help those in need.

MERIDIAN, MISS. - John Christopher "Chris" Ethridge II, a Mississippi-born musician, bassist and songwriter who was a founding member of the 1960s country-rock band "The Flying Burrito Brothers," has died of pancreatic cancer. He was 65. Born and raised in Meridian, Ethridge moved to Los Angeles when he was 17. Ethridge collaborated with another seminal Southern music figure, Gram Parsons, on several projects, including the Flying Burrito Brothers and the International Submarine Band, and he co-wrote several of Parsons' solo tunes.

Sanford "Sandy" McDonnell, 89, who led the aerospace behemoth McDonnell Douglas Corp., has died, according to Boeing Co., which bought McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Mr. McDonnell, McDonnell Douglas' former chairman and chief executive officer, had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in November 2010 and died Monday at his home in Clayton, Mo., the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. Mr. McDonnell, the nephew of McDonnell Aircraft founder James McDonnell, was CEO from 1972 and became chairman eight years later after his uncle's death.

Andre G. Susanin, 78, of Wynnewood, a retired company owner and volunteer, died Friday, March 9, of pancreatic cancer at Lankenau Hospital. A native of Palmerton, Pa., Mr. Susanin earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry from Yale University. After graduating in 1955, he was with the water-treatment division of Rohm & Haas Co. in Philadelphia. From 1978 until five years ago, he operated Susanin Equipment Co. in Narberth, selling and distributing industrial equipment. For 15 years, Mr. Susanin was a volunteer driver for Wheels of Wellness, chauffeuring patients to medical appointments.

Jeffrey Zaslow, 53, a Broomall native who became a best-selling author and Wall Street Journal columnist, died in a car accident Friday in Michigan, where he lived. Mr. Zaslow wrote The Last Lecture, about Carnegie Mellon University professor Randy Pausch, who became famous for a lecture - delivered while he was battling pancreatic cancer - about achieving childhood dreams. The book rose to No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list. Mr. Zaslow also cowrote Gabby: A Story of Courage and Hope with former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who is recovering from being shot in the head last year, and her husband, Capt.

Bernard L. Siegel, 73, of Northeast Philadelphia, a criminal lawyer and educator, died Tuesday, Jan. 17, of pancreatic cancer at Manor Care in Huntingdon Valley. After establishing a law practice in Center City in 1986, Mr. Siegel represented clients charged with robbery, rape, homicide, corruption, and embezzlement and was involved in several high-profile cases. In 1997, he was the attorney for Herbert Haak in the "Center City jogger" murder trial. On Nov. 2, 1995, Kimberly Ernest, 26, was found fatally beaten in a stairwell at 21st and Pine Streets.

A small study focused on the big question of whether intravenous Vitamin C fights cancer has yielded "somewhat encouraging findings," some Thomas Jefferson University researchers conclude. Many alternative medicine practitioners are firmly convinced that ascorbic acid infusions work, based on anecdotal cases of remissions and cures. But the evidence remains inconclusive. In the new study, nine patients with advanced pancreatic cancer received intravenous C plus two standard chemotherapy drugs for eight weeks.