Craig's Cause announces 2012 Maritime Bike Tour!

BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND! ~ On August 1st, 2012, 25 cyclists will leave Halifax, Nova Scotia and embark on an amazing adventure, touring the Maritime Provinces (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island), while raising awareness about Pancreatic Cancer, holding Information Sessions at the following hospitals:

Tentative hospital list:

1) QEII Health Sciences Centre 
2) Valley Regional Hospital
3) Dr. Everett Chalmers Regional Hospital 
4) Saint John Regional Hospital 
5) The Moncton Hospital 
6) Queen Elizabeth Hospital 
7) Cape Breton Regional Hospital 
8) St. Martha's Regional Hospital 

Booklets and DVD's about Pancreatic Cancer will be given out free of charge.

The tour will run from Wednesday, August 1, 2012 at 8:00am until Monday, August 6, 2012 at 12:00pm. Our tour ends by celebrating in the Natal Day Festivities and riding behind the Craig's Cause Pancreatic Cancer Society Float, donated by Tiltload.

The Route: 

 

Each cyclist will be responsible to fundraise a minimum of $2,500.00. 100% of the funds raised by cyclists will be donated to the Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund. 

For additional information please contact Jeff Bonang at 902-497-4143 or by email at

maritimebiketour@craigscause.ca

 

Follow our preparations for the 2012 Maritime Bike Tour on Facebook

Participants in Craig's Cause's successful Maritime Bike Tour 2011...who shared an unforgettable experience while raising over $60,000.00 for pancreatic cancer research, and holding information sessions in seven hospitals across the Maritimes!

David McGinley, support group Guest Speaker on "Spirituality and Cancer" - video

David McGinley, chaplin with the Canadian Cancer Society, was our support group guest speaker on January 3. We plan to video our series of guest speakers this year for the benefit of those who are unable to attend the support group meetings. The Craig's Cause Pancreatic Cancer Society support group is for patients and caregivers who have been touched by pancreatic cancer. 

Update on Saturday, January 14, 2012 at 9:52AM by CC Admin

Advances in diagnosis, treatment and palliation of pancreatic carcinoma: 1990-2010

Several advances in genetics, diagnosis and palliation of pancreatic cancer (PC) have occurred in the last decades. A multidisciplinary approach to this disease is therefore recommended. PC is relatively common as it is the fourth leading cause of cancer related mortality. Most patients present with obstructive jaundice, epigastric or back pain, weight loss and anorexia. Despite improvements in diagnostic modalities, the majority of cases are still detected in advanced stages. The only curative treatment for PC remains surgical resection. No more than 20% of patients are candidates for surgery at the time of diagnosis and survival remains quite poor as adjuvant therapies are not very effective. A small percentage of patients with borderline non-resectable PC might benefit from neo-adjuvant chemoradiation therapy enabling them to undergo resection; however, randomized controlled studies are needed to prove the benefits of this strategy. Patients with unresectable PC benefit from palliative interventions such as biliary decompression and celiac plexus block. Further clinical trials to evaluate new chemo and radiation protocols as well as identification of genetic markers for PC are needed to improve the overall survival of patients affected by PC, as the current overall 5-year survival rate of patients affected by PC is still less than 5%.

The aim of this article is to review the most recent high quality literature on this topic.   

High Quality Literature Review on Pancreatic Cancer

New Brunswick voices needed on the 2011 Maritime Bike Tour!

Have you ever been interested in touring our scenic Maritimes? Have you ever wanted to be inspired by others? Have you ever wanted to be part of an adventure of a life time? Have you ever wanted to give back? This Maritime Bike Tour does all that and will leave you with memories that will last a lifetime.

If you would like to be apart of this 2011 Maritime Bike Tour, please use the names below to make contact with us. We need your help so that the voices of Pancreatic Cancer can be heard throughout the Maritimes!

Stefanie Condon-Oldreive ~ stefanie@craigscause.ca

Read more about us in the Daily Gleaner!

Daily Gleaner- 2010 Maritime Bike Tour

Update on Monday, May 2, 2011 at 3:58PM by Stefanie

Great article in the newspaper today, written by Adam Bowie. Adam has been a great source of awareness for Pancreatic Cancer and writes for the Daily Gleaner! Great article Adam. We thank you for creating more awareness about Pancreatic Cancer in New Brunswick!

http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/front/article/1402687

Deadliest cancers overlooked by charity donors: Study

Young said the truth is, those afflicted with the deadliest cancers aren't getting the chance to speak out for their cause and to ask the public for support —they're not living long enough to do so. 

Breast, leukemia, childhood cancers ask loudly and frequently whereas other cancers like pancreatic, stomach, lung and colorectal don't have a voice," Young said.

The following links are to newspapers articles that came out today and to the actual study released "Cancer in Canada" by Charity Intelligence Canada. Although not surprising it speaks to the less then acceptable funding of Pancreatic Cancer. 0.8% of research funding is allocated to Pancreatic Cancer. 0.1% of donations are directed to Pancreatic Cancer.

We CAN change this! Get involved.......HELP us change these statistics......it happened for Breast Cancer.....it can happen for Pancreatic Cancer.

Read more:

Cancer In Canada Report
Tuesday, April 26^th, 2011 ~ Global News
http://www.globalnews.ca/Deadliest+cancers+overlooked+charity+donors+study/4678323/story.html 
Tuesday, April 26th, 2011 ~ Vancouver Sun

http://www.canada.com/health/Deadliest+cancers+overlooked+charity+donors+Study/4678286/story.html#ixzz1KgEF9gq4

CBC Health Report