Widow advocates for awareness of pancreatic cancer It is estimated that 37,000 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year, with over 85 percent of those diagnosed typically dying within one year. Many advances have been made in treating and detecting other cancers, but unfortunately, there is less so for pancreatic. There are so few survivors of pancreatic cancer that hardly anyone directly affected by it is left behind to advocate awareness for this disease. My husband, Bernard T. Spigner, lost his life six months ago after a very short battle with pancreatic cancer. The risk increases with age, but there are high incidences in men as well as in minority groups. The disease respects no one, regardless of color, age or gender. Despite never having cancer in his immediate family, never a smoker or diabetic, my husband's life was cut short by this terrible disease. As a result, our 3-year-old son's chance of getting pancreatic cancer went up from almost negligible to 50 percent. I am making it my mission to help educate families about this terrible illness so that they can make better choices - whether they are health, lifestyle or environment related - to help prevent this disease. Valuable information can be found at the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network Web site at www.pancan.org, as well as at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey Web site at www.cinj.org. Deborah M. Spigner Metuchen