Hansard

I thank colleagues across the chamber for supporting the motion and allowing this members’ business debate to take place. It is the second debate raising the issue of pancreatic cancer in the chamber and it is a way of recognising the tireless work of those involved in Pancreatic Cancer UK and Pancreatic Cancer Scotland to support people who have been touched by this disease in our country.

I was honoured to host the joint event that the charities held last night, where I met many of the people who have been affected by pancreatic cancer—those dedicated to fundraising, those raising awareness, those doing research and, of course, those supporting people who have been affected by their families and friends suffering from the disease. I was also honoured to meet some of the survivors. We attend many such events in this place, but what was quite noticeable last night was how few survivors were in attendance. Only one person in the room had survived pancreatic cancer for more than 10 years—such people are known as the 1 per cent club in the pancreatic community.

The stark, dark figures for pancreatic cancer have hardly changed in the past 50 years, which is why we all have to work together in Scotland to make breakthroughs and lead in this area. I was therefore delighted that also in attendance last night were the young leaders from the precision-panc research team at the Beatson institute for cancer research. The precision-panc programme is funded by Cancer Research UK and the Scottish Government and seeks to make vital breakthroughs in pancreatic cancer research.

Why is this cancer so important and so unique? The five-year survival rate for Scotland is 5.6 per cent. That has increased by only 2.1 percentage points in the past 20 years. In 2016, 784 people were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in Scotland and 719 people died of the illness. In that year, 9.2 per cent of patients who were diagnosed with pancreatic, distal biliary tract or duodenal cancer in Scotland had potentially curative surgery—just 9.2 per cent.

Sixty-three per cent of people with pancreatic cancer are diagnosed at stage 3 or stage 4, which are the advanced stages of the disease. Eighty per cent of people with pancreatic cancer are not diagnosed until the cancer is at an advanced stage and surgery is the only treatment that can save lives, yet only 8 per cent of people with pancreatic cancer reach the surgery stage.

Pancreatic Cancer UK and the many members and their families I have met, especially Mr Begley’s daughter, Lynda Murray, have all stressed that pancreatic cancer must be treated as an emergency—an oncological emergency. It is the quickest killing cancer and many people who are diagnosed die within a month of their diagnosis, so minutes, days and hours with this disease are as weeks, months and years for other cancers. That is why it is so unique and why we need a specific approach to it in Scotland.

We are lucky in Scotland, in that a 15 per cent target exists as part of the quality improvement indicators to try to get people through surgery and treatment. That is being achieved in some health board areas, and it would be very welcome if the target for pancreatic cancer could be achieved across the board.

The disease is very tough to diagnose. The presentation of the symptoms can be seen as something else. It involves stomach pain and back pain, and you cannot touch a pancreatic cancer—you cannot feel a lump or a change in the body, apart from symptoms such as a change in bowel movements or smell. People have been working really hard to alert people to the symptoms of pancreatic cancer. Pancreatic Cancer Scotland’s pancan van has been going to our town centres on a thistle stop tour of Scotland—that is very appropriate, as it has a thistle in its logo. It was in the High Street today, taking the message about people being wary of the symptoms, knowing what to look for and seeking advice and treatment as quickly as possible.

I thank the many organisations and councils that have supported light up purple for this month of pancreatic awareness. The Kelpies were lit up and major buildings across Scotland including the Scottish Parliament have supported the light up purple challenge.

This cancer is unique and devastating. One ask from the cancer charities that are here in the public gallery is that a review of the pathways in Scotland is undertaken, and that a review of treatment pathways will be considered by the Government. It is doing a general cancer review at the moment, but it would be interesting to see what features of pancreatic cancer that are unique to the disease will be considered when looking at how the pathways will go forward. I will be really interested to know the benchmarking that the Government will use in the future to know that we have made progress in this area.