Assembly Resolution No. 672

BY: M. of A. Rosenthal L

memorializing Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to
proclaim November 2017, as Pancreatic Cancer
Awareness Month in the State of New York

WHEREAS, The State of New York takes great pride in participating in
months designated to raise awareness of important issues; and

WHEREAS, November 2017 will be observed as Pancreatic Cancer
Awareness Month to create awareness of pancreatic cancer, the
third-leading cause of cancer-related death among men and women in the
United States, and is anticipated to become the second leading cause by
2020; and

WHEREAS, Pancreatic cancer has the lowest relative survival rate of
all the cancers tracked by both the American Cancer Society and the
National Cancer Institute; and

WHEREAS, 74 percent of pancreatic cancer patients die within the
first year of their diagnosis and only seven percent survive more than
five years; and

WHEREAS, Every year over 46,000 people will be diagnosed and more
than 43,000 people will die of pancreatic cancer in the United States;
that means approximately one in every 72 men and women born today will
be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in their lifetime, and over 2,000
New York residents yearly will die from the disease; and

WHEREAS, There has been no significant improvement in survival rates
in the last 40 years and pancreatic cancer research is still in the
earliest scientific stages; and

WHEREAS, The number of new pancreatic cancer cases and the number of
deaths caused by the disease are increasing; the expected number of new
pancreatic cancer cases is projected to increase by 55% between the
years 2010 and 2030; and

WHEREAS, When symptoms of pancreatic cancer generally present
themselves, it is often too late for an optimistic prognosis, and the
average survival rate is only five to seven months; and

WHEREAS, People of Eastern European Jewish and African-American
descent are diagnosed at a higher frequency than the rest of the
population; and

WHEREAS, Additional risk factors include but are not limited to:
smoking, obesity, recent on-set diabetes, family history of pancreatic
cancer and pancreatitis; and

WHEREAS, Pancreatic cancer research is currently severely
underfunded as compared to other cancers with similar mortality; it is
urgent that we focus on this matter; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
memorialize Governor Andrew M. Cuomo to proclaim November 2017, as
Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month in the State of New York, and to urge
its citizens to educate themselves about pancreatic cancer and the need
for research funding, early detection methods, effective treatments, and
prevention programs; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be
transmitted to The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of the State of
New York.