More than 40 pancreatic cancer member organizations representing 20 countries in our global alliance are expected to attend the second annual World Pancreatic Cancer Coalition (WPCC) meeting next week in host city Montreal, Canada.

The two-day meeting allows representatives to share fundraising, media outreach and advocacy best practices while hearing the latest updates from members of the scientific community, as well as pancreatic cancer survivors.

“By working together, we will continue to raise the global visibility of pancreatic cancer with the ultimate goal to improve outcomes for patients,” said Julie Fleshman, JD, MBA, chair of the WPCC and PanCAN president and CEO.

Pancreatic cancer is the seventh most common cause of cancer-related death in men and women combined worldwide. Only two to 10 percent of those diagnosed survive five years.

World Pancreatic Cancer Coalition members at their Annual Meeting last year in Orlando, Fla.

This year’s meeting speakers include  Dr. Robin Urquhart, assistant professor at the Beatrice Hunter Cancer Research Institute at Dalhousie University,  Dr. Malcolm Moore, president of the British Columbia Cancer Agency, and Libby Znaimer, eight-year pancreatic cancer survivor and board member of Pancreatic Cancer Canada.

Participants will also discuss World Pancreatic Cancer Day, which the Coalition oversees. World Pancreatic Cancer Day (WPCD) is observed around the globe each November during Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month.

World Pancreatic Cancer Day aims to raise critical global awareness of the disease, because with more research funding and more people taking action, pancreatic cancer survival rates can, and will, improve. This year, WPCD will be held on Thursday, November 16.

Follow along on social media for updates from our annual meeting on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; or join the conversation by using #worldpcc and #pancreaticcancer.

Read the full meeting press release here.