Pancreatic cancer survivor interviewed by media wearing purple for pancreatic cancer awareness

Survivor Matt Wilson joined Fox29 Philadelphia to raise awareness about pancreatic cancer on World Pancreatic Cancer Day.

Nov. 19 marked another successful World Pancreatic Cancer Day – a dedicated day during Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month in November for people across the globe to join forces to raise awareness of the disease. The day is an initiative of the World Pancreatic Cancer Coalition (WPCC), of which the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN) is a founding member.

This year’s event came less than two weeks after the death of Alex Trebek, who announced his stage IV pancreatic cancer diagnosis in March 2019.

On the day’s episode of “Jeopardy!” (which Trebek taped before his passing), the beloved host shared a message about World Pancreatic Cancer Day.

Trebek was loved for so many reasons, but we’ll always be most grateful for his willingness to share his story and raise awareness for pancreatic cancer.

Earlier this year, we lost U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg and U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-GA) to pancreatic cancer, as well.

These icons – and many, many other individuals who have faced pancreatic cancer – were honored across the world online, on television and with very public displays on World Pancreatic Cancer Day.

The media proudly wore purple and shared information about the disease.

Landmarks across the globe turned purple.

Members of Congress sported purple.

And researchers, healthcare professionals, businesses, supporters, friends and family showed off their purple and their passion for the cause.

Plus, media coverage highlighted volunteers and survivors raising awareness as well as stories of those who have benefited from that awareness – like Chuck Paulausky, whose pancreatic cancer diagnosis was caught early thanks to Trebek’s PSA last year.

The world turned purple on World Pancreatic Cancer Day to raise critical awareness of this important cause – and we are so incredibly grateful.

But pancreatic cancer won’t disappear on Nov. 20, or even when Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month ends Dec. 1.

We’ll keep the momentum going and won’t ever stop working toward a future where people with pancreatic cancer thrive. Join us!

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There’s still time to participate in Pancreatic Cancer Awareness Month! Share a message on our Honor Wall, make a donation to PanCAN or fundraise to support important work fighting this disease.