KDSN RADIO News
Iowa event to raise awareness, research funds for one of the deadliest cancers
One of the most lethal types of cancer is the focus of an event in central Iowa this weekend that will gather survivors from all corners of the state, along with advocates and loved ones of those who’ve died from it.
The five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is just 13 percent, which has improved in recent years. Ryan Dwars, of Iowa City, is now a four-year pancreatic cancer survivor, and he’ll be at the Purple Stride Iowa walk in Des Moines.
“Our goal for Purple Strides here in Iowa is to raise $127,000, and right now we are at 80% of that,” Dwars says, “and the money is going for research funding.”
Saturday’s annual Purple Stride event is the only one in Iowa, and it’s among about 60 across the country. The national goal is $ 18 million to help change the lives of people facing pancreatic cancer and to advance progress against the disease. Dwars, a special education teacher at Iowa City West High School, says he spent three months in New York last summer to take part in a clinical trial.
“I did some treatments out there that involved stem cell transplants to help recover from these high-dose chemo drugs that I that I got,” Dwars says. “I was inpatient in the hospital and so I had two different treatments out there. My tumor marker is now in the normal range. Things are looking as good as they have been within the last four years.”
More than 67,000 Americans were diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year, and an estimated 52,000 will die from the disease this year, making it the third-leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. Dwars, who was diagnosed at age 36, says pancreatic cancer is so deadly because it’s often difficult to detect.
“Symptoms of pancreatic cancer are very vague. Mine was some back and kind of side pain, which was actually caused by some blood clots, which then the tumor on the tail end of my pancreas was found at that time,” Dwars says, “but even some of my lab work came back completely normal.”
Symptoms can include abdominal or mid-back pain, unexplained weight loss, jaundice, loss of appetite, indigestion, changes in stool, and new-onset diabetes.
Dwars’ wife, Brooke, will be speaking at Saturday’s state event from the standpoint of a caregiver. The Purple Stride Iowa walk will be held at Raccoon River Park in West Des Moines.
