Pancreatic Cancer: A Case Study

Imagine losing both your parents to cancer and then going through an irreversible procedure to possibly save your life from cancer. Well that was a reality for Peter Penni, who also went through the Whipple procedure, in 2017. Peter grew up in a typical Italian family in Boston. He lost both parents and a young cousin to cancer. In 2015, Peter was diagnosed with stage three Pancreatic Adenocarcinoma. After going through chemotherapy, Peter went through the Whipple Procedure, which is a procedure where you remove the head of the pancreas, which necessitates the removal of the duodenum, proximal jejunum, gallbladder, and sometimes part of the stomach. Peter also went through IRE, an irreversible electroporation procedure, which uses electric

Pancreatic Cancer is the third deadliest cancer in the world. The disease gets much less funding and recognition than many cancers that are nowhere near a deadly as Pancreatic Cancer. The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network also helped establish the World Pancreatic Cancer Coalition.

Founded in 1999, the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network is dedicated to increasing the survival rate of patients and increasing awareness about Pancreatic Cancer. The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network was founded by Pamela Acosta Marquardt, Paula Kim, and Terry Lierman. After Marquardt’s mom was given 3-6 months to live, as a result of the disease. After Marquardt tried researching the disease and only found a chat room about it, she became very angry and wanted to do something about it. A little while later, a former CNBC reporter, put Marquardt in touch with Terry Lierman. Terry Lierman was the former owner of one of the largest healthcare lobbying firms on Capitol Hill. Marquardt then staged a black tie celebrity gala for celebrities who had been affected by the disease. The gala raised $165,000. In 1999, after months of hard work the Pancreatic Cancer Action network was officially incorporated