Pancreatic cancer occurs when a cell in the pancreas is damaged, causing the malignant or cancer cell to form in the tissue of the pancreas. The pancreas is a gland about 6 inches long and is shaped like thin pear lying on its side. The pancreas lies between the stomach and the spine.

The risk of developing pancreatic cancer increases with age, with about ⅔ of patients being diagnosed at age 65 or older. Slightly more men than women are affected.

Cigarette smoking is one of the biggest risk factors. Other risk factors include:

Being overweight
Personal history of diabetes and
Family history of pancreatic cancer or pancreatitis

Like most cancers, early detection is critical. Survival rates are impacted by tumor size and whether the cancer has spread to other organs.

In this episode we are joined by Leslie Waldman, who has a personal diagnosis of pancreatic cancer, which she has lived with for 10 years. Leslie Waldman is director of Consumer and Physician Engagement at Johns Hopkins Medicine. During the last four decades, he has served Johns Hopkins in many capacities including director of strategic marketing, director of competitive strategy for Johns Hopkins Medicine and as director of public affairs for the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health.

Throughout her career, she has blended strategy planning and marketing, public affairs and consumer health education to affect change and motivate consumers towards healthier living. Resulting programs have included community-based screening programs for Tay-Sachs disease and lead poisoning; the award-winning health portfolio, A Woman’s Journey; and strategic marketing programs for women’s health, many clinical programs and recruitment of volunteers for clinical trials The Association of American Medical Colleges has honored her work for the digital program, COVID -19: One Year Later; re branding Johns Hopkin Medicine, marketing the Johns Hopkins Breast Center, advertising during open enrollment, the publication of Estrogen Replacement Therapy: The Johns Hopkins Guide to Making an Informed Decision; and marketing for the Johns Hopkins Asthma and Allergy Center.

Ms. Waldman has a masters in science in health education from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and a BA from the Newhouse School of Communications and the College of Liberal Arts at Syracuse university.

Check out “A Woman’s Journey: Healthy Insights That Matter” on Apple Podcast here. There is also an archive here. We also encourage you to explore the resources offered by PanCan and Lust Garden. You can also reference the NCCN guidelines for pancreatic cancer here.

Stay tuned for the next new episode of It Happened To Me! In the meantime, you can listen to our previous episodes on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, streaming on the website, or any other podcast player by searching, “It Happened To Me”.

It Happened To Me is created and hosted by Cathy Gildenhorn and Beth Glassman. DNA Today’s Kira Dineen is our executive producer and marketing lead. Amanda Andreoli is our associate producer. Ashlyn Enokian is our graphic designer.

See what else we are up to on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and our website, ItHappenedToMePod.com. Questions/inquiries can be sent to ItHappenedToMePod@gmail.com.

Pancreatic Cancer