Skip to content

All the news from Servier Group

Home > World Pancreatic Cancer Day: Servier strives to make progress in cancer treatments
Back to news

World Pancreatic Cancer Day: Servier strives to make progress in cancer treatments

Pancreatic cancer awareness month is November, with World Pancreatic Cancer Day taking place on November 18. Servier is committed in the fight against one of the deadliest cancers in the world. As a member of the World Pancreatic Cancer Coalition for a number of years, Servier is also active in raising awareness.

While it is not clear why pancreatic cancer develops, some of the risk factors that have been identified include smoking, diabetes, obesity, old age, chronic inflammation of the pancreas, and a family history of pancreatic cancer or genetic syndromes. Pancreatic cancer is often detected late because symptoms only become noticeable once it has spread to other organs in the body. This means survival rates are low.

  • Pancreatic cancer is the 7th leading cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide1
  • In 2018, 458,918 new cases of pancreatic cancer were registered worldwide, (2.5% of all cancers)1
  • Despite advancements in detection and treatment, the 5-year survival rate stands at 9%2
  • Pancreatic cancer is more common in men (243,033 cases) than in women (215,885 cases)2

How is Servier involved?

Servier is getting involved in raising awareness around pancreatic cancer by supporting #ItsAboutTime awareness campaign, conducted by the World Pancreatic Cancer Coalition (more than 99 organizations from over 40 countries).

To meet the growing need for therapeutic solutions, Servier has made oncology one of its top priorities, investing 50% of its annual R&D budget in this field starting in 2021.

Did you know?

The pancreas is a gland located in the abdomen, behind the stomach and in front of the spine. It has two important functions: the production of digestive enzymes that are released into the intestine and the production of insulin, which regulates the absorption of sugar into the body’s cells.

Find out more about pancreatic cancer

1 – Bray F, Ferlay J, Soerjomataram I, Siegel RL, Torre LA, Jemal A .Global cancer statistics 2018: GLOBOCAN estimates of incidence and mortality worldwide for 36 cancers in 185 countries. CA Cancer J Clin. 2018 Nov; 68(6):394-424.
2 – Rawla P, Sunkara T, Gaduputi V. Epidemiology of Pancreatic Cancer: Global Trends, Etiology and Risk Factors. World J Oncol. 2019;10(1):10-27. doi:10.14740/wjon1166