Editor’s note: Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month kicks off a few weeks early this year and continues through November. Our focus is “Demand Better. For Patients. For Survival.” Each week, we’ll bring you conversations with survivors, families, volunteers, researchers, advocates and others fighting the world’s toughest cancer. We’re asking them why they Demand Better, and how they’re doing it. Today we hear from Teona Ducre, a pancreatic cancer survivor from Atlanta. She also tells us more in a recent video – scroll to the end of the article to view it.

Teona Ducre

Why do you Demand Better?

I Demand Better because a cancer diagnosis should not be left to chance or detected accidentally. I Demand Better because no one should be told they only have a few days, a few weeks or a few months to live because there are no early detection methods to prevent this cancer.

For whom do you Demand Better?

I demand better for the 53,000-plus people who are diagnosed with this disease, for all the families who are left after losing someone they love and for all those yet to be diagnosed.

What does Demand Better mean to you?

Advocating for funding to develop early detection methods, treatment options and opportunities to save lives.

Why should people be aware of pancreatic cancer risk factors?

The more people who are aware, the more researchers and doctors can develop clinical trials to beat this disease, ultimately saving lives.

What are you personally doing currently to Demand Better in the fight against the world’s toughest cancer?

I’m the volunteer Affiliate Chair for Atlanta and I engage with the community every opportunity I get to advocate for and bring awareness to the disease. From television interviews to events to attending National Pancreatic Cancer Advocacy Day in D.C. and even just wearing purple, I make advocacy a priority in my life.

What three words come to mind when you picture a world in which there is an early detection test for pancreatic cancer?

Hope. Victory. Living.

Join us in fighting the world’s toughest cancer. Visit www.pancan.org/demandbetter to learn more about how you can Demand Better during Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month and beyond.