Pancreas cancer may become the second leading cause of cancer death in Portugal and worldwide, today warned the president of the Portuguese Pancreas Club (CPP), about the day of the disease.
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03/11/2026
by
Lusa
O pancreatic cancer may become by 2035 the second leading cause of cancer death in Portugal and worldwide, today warned the president of the Portuguese Club of Pancreas (CPP), about the day of the disease.
The CPP will launch a national awareness campaign, aiming to alert the population to the prevention and early detection of the disease, with the motto “The time to act is now”, which will take place on social networks within the World Cancer Day of the Pancreas, which is marked on November 19.
The gastranterologist and president of the CPP, Alexandra Fernandes, points out, quoted in a statement, that “it is important that people recognize the risk factors associated” to this disease, recalling that in 2024 2,191 new cases were diagnosed and 2,051 deaths were registered in Portugal, numbers that put this tumor as the sixth most fatal in the country.
These values translate “a five-year overall survival rate of only 13%,” the expert said, adding that in cases detected early the survival rate rises to 44%, falling to 3% when the disease has already spread.
Pancreatic cancer – the most common form of which is pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, responsible for more than 90% of cases and known for its high aggressiveness – has symptoms that may be confused with other digestive disorders.
Among the warning signs are abdominal pain that may radiate to the back, unexplained weight loss, digestive changes such as indigestion, vomiting or diarrhoea, sudden onset or worsening of diabetes and jaundice (skin and yellowish eyes).
In addition to age and genetic predisposition, the CPP highlights several risk factors associated with lifestyle that can be prevented, including smoking, obesity and overweight, diabetes, chronic pancreatitis (often secondary to chronic alcoholism and smoking) and a diet rich in refined sugars, fats, red meats and processed products.
The CPP is a specialized section of the Sociedade Portuguesa de Gastrenterologia (SPG), a non-profit public utility scientific association that since 1989 aims to promote the development of digestive health.
For more information, the body refers to the digestive health site (https://saudedigestive.pt/).