BOSTON — A day ahead of World Pancreatic Cancer Day, which fell on Nov. 21, lawmakers and advocates gathered to bring hope to a promising bill aimed at improving survival rates and treatments for pancreatic cancer patients.

Pancreatic cancer ranks as the second-deadliest cancer, with an estimated 1,140 deaths in Massachusetts in 2024, according to a report from the American Cancer Society. The disease has a grim five-year survival rate of just 13%, the report shows.

During a briefing last week, Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, urged moving this bill to the finish line in honor of those who have struggled with the disease. The bill includes several measures aimed at bolstering prevention and screening efforts, and improving access to treatment.

“A cancer is deadly, and it’s why this widespread pancreatic cancer needs the state to focus on it, to help protect residents,” Comerford said. “It really is time we got it done.”

Pancreatic cancer is also known as a silent killer as the signs and symptoms usually do not appear until it is advanced, the report shows.

Katie Torrence, a pancreatic cancer survivor, said at the briefing that she started to feel off in July 2020. “My symptoms were vague and hard to describe,” she said.

She initially thought it was because of her weight or drinking habits, until her doctor found the mass. Her doctors told her that it was found “incredibly early” and they are hopeful for a positive outcome if she treats it aggressively.

“I am determined to make that happen,” Torrence said.

It only took 23 days from diagnosis to the start of the treatment for Torrence.

“Every cancer patient deserves that timeline. With such a deadly disease, there is no time to waste,” she added.

Rep. Hannah Kane, R-Shrewsbury, one of the co-sponsors, stressed the humanitarian initiative of this bill for anyone to get appropriate treatment as soon as possible.

“The sooner somebody gets a diagnosis, the sooner we’re actually paying for that person to get better, which is a good thing,” Kane said, noting that early diagnosis can help prevent patients from enduring lengthy, costly and uncertain medical journeys to find answers. “We want people to have extended lives and to have cancer go into remission.”

She revealed she has colleagues, friends and constituents who have or are battling pancreatic cancer.

“Every moment our legislation isn’t passed is a moment that somebody’s potential survival rate hangs in the balance,” she said about feeling the weight of pressure.

Kane said one of their goals is to make the health care system less costly with better outcomes for all patients.

This legislation is largely based on recommendations outlined in a Special Commission to Study Pancreatic Cancer report published in October 2019 and was studied by the Joint Committee on Health Care Financing in May 2023. The proposals, which were sponsored by nearly 100 lawmakers, had earlier cleared the Joint Committee on Public Health. Lawmakers vowed at last week’s briefing to refile the bill at the next legislative session.

The bill requires the commissioner of insurance to report on the state of Massachusetts’ health insurance coverage for genetic testing, and for the Center for Health Information and Analysis to update its mandated benefit review and cost analysis reports of pancreatic cancer screenings.

Comerford emphasized that widespread public education pertaining to this disease and exploring early detection methods are also essential to the recommendations from the commission.

She highlighted the unique challenges faced by hospitals in western Massachusetts, where hospitals are “small and struggling with rural pressures and with reimbursement rate being on par,” she said. Comerford added that limited access to primary and specialty care also plagues local residents.

She said the state Department of Public Health and the federal Department of Health and Human Services have been focused on the particular vulnerabilities of rural Massachusetts, calling DPH Commissioner Robert Goldstein a “tremendous ally.”

Brock Cordeiro, chair of the Special Commission to Study Pancreatic Cancer, lost his father to pancreatic cancer.

“People are literally dying, and this bill will make a difference so fewer families will have to endure what mine and so many others have suffered,” he said.

Inspired by his father’s death, Cordeiro delved into public awareness campaigns and the state’s various boards and commissions, seeking to address cancers like pancreatic cancer.

“My dad’s death was not in vain,” Cordeiro said.

Zichang Liu writes for the Greenfield Recorder as part of the Boston University Statehouse Program.