Harrisburg, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania: State House Adopts Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Resolution Designating November 2026 as Awareness Month; Five-Year Survival Rate Is Just 13%
The Pennsylvania House of Representatives in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, adopted a resolution introduced by Rep. Rob Matzie on October 21 — by a vote of 202 to 1 — designating November 2026 as 'Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month' in Pennsylvania, ahead of the nationally recognized awareness month; the House announced the adoption on October 29. Matzie, chairman of the House majority caucus, said in House Resolution 538 that pancreatic cancer is expected to kill more than 52,000 people in the United States this year. He said that although pancreatic cancer is not among the most commonly diagnosed cancers, it is the third-leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. and has the lowest overall five-year survival rate among the major cancers, at just 13%. The issue is personal to him: his mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and, because it was caught early, lived eight more years; most patients are not so lucky, as the disease spreads quickly with few early symptoms and most cases are diagnosed too late for effective treatment. Matzie also pointed to hope in medicine: a drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in late August was shown to double survival compared with standard chemotherapy alone, and clinical trials of therapeutic and preventive vaccines are underway. He stressed that until the numbers turn around, being alert to possible symptoms and reporting them to a doctor remains the best weapon, because early detection is still the most effective means.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：宾夕法尼亚州议会大厦（哈里斯堡）正面全景，Wikimedia Commons文件File:Pennsylvania State Capitol Front Panorama.jpg，摄影Ruhrfisch（Wikimedia Commons，授权 CC BY-SA 4.0，作者 Ruhrfisch (talk)）
