Local 12 highlights Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month
Pancreatic cancer diagnoses are increasing more rapidly than any other cancer type while remaining one of the most deadly cancers.
The American Cancer Society estimates approximately 64,000 Americans will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year, and approximately 50,500 people in the U.S. will die of pancreatic cancer in 2023. While currently the third-leading cause of cancer death in the United States, pancreatic cancer is expected to become the second-leading cause of cancer death by 2030, highlighting the need for new and innovative treatments.
During Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month in November, the University of Cincinnati's Andrew Waters, PhD, joined Local 12's What's Happening in Health program to discuss the state of pancreatic cancer research.
"Now what I'm working on, there's been milestone advancements, and we have these drugs that are going through clinical trials here in the Cincinnati area," said Waters, University of Cincinnati Cancer Center researcher and assistant professor in the UC College of Medicine’s Department of Surgery, Division of Surgical Oncology and Department of Cancer Biology. "And what I'm trying to understand is how these cells when treated with this drug kind of adapt and develop resistance to the drug. Because we know it's going to be combination therapies that are necessary to really extend the lives of pancreatic cancer patients and the efficacy of this new class of drugs in the clinic."
Waters was joined by volunteers from the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, who raise funds to support research, including at the Cancer Center.
"Finding this disease early, if possible, will really help increase the odds. Your chance of survival goes up from 12% for five-year survival to 33% if you can find the disease early,” said Sherry Holcomb, mission chair of the local chapter of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.
Watch or read the Local 12 story.
Read more about Waters' research.
Featured photo at top: Researchers Krushna Patra, Andrew Waters and Patrick Krause review data. Photo/Andrew Higley/UC Marketing + Brand.
Related Stories
Sugar overload killing hearts
November 10, 2025
Two in five people will be told they have diabetes during their lifetime. And people who have diabetes are twice as likely to develop heart disease. One of the deadliest dangers? Diabetic cardiomyopathy. But groundbreaking University of Cincinnati research hopes to stop and even reverse the damage before it’s too late.
Is going nuclear the solution to Ohio’s energy costs?
November 10, 2025
The Ohio Capital Journal recently reported that as energy prices continue to climb, economists are weighing the benefits of going nuclear to curb costs. The publication dove into a Scioto Analysis survey of 18 economists to weigh the pros and cons of nuclear energy. One economist featured was Iryna Topolyan, PhD, professor of economics at the Carl H. Lindner College of Business.
App turns smartwatch into detector of structural heart disease
November 10, 2025
An app that uses an AI model to read a single-lead ECG from a smartwatch can detect structural heart disease, researchers reported at the 2025 Scientific Sessions of the American Heart Association. Although the technology requires further validation, researchers said it could help improve the identification of patients with heart failure, valvular conditions and left ventricular hypertrophy before they become symptomatic, which could improve the prognosis for people with these conditions.