Before her dad was diagnosed, Lauren and her family knew very little about pancreatic cancer.
“We just knew that when you hear pancreatic cancer, you knew it was terminal”.
That changed quickly.
After her dad’s diagnosis, the family began learning more about the disease. He was able to provide samples for genetic testing and research through Chris O’Brien Lifehouse - introducing Lauren to an area of pancreatic cancer she had known little about: the role our genes and family history can play.
Then pancreatic cancer struck her family again.
Lauren’s mum was also diagnosed with the disease.
For Lauren, losing both parents to pancreatic cancer has made understanding family history, and asking questions about your own risk, deeply personal.
Around one in 10 pancreatic cancers are linked to inherited gene changes that can be passed through families. A family history of pancreatic cancer can also be an important factor in understanding a person’s risk.
Lauren's mum and dad, who were both diagnosed with pancreatic cancer
Two diagnoses, different signs
Pancreatic cancer did not look the same for Lauren’s parents.
Her dad had experienced stomach and back pain for some time. Because he had lived with back problems for years, he initially put the pain down to getting older.
When persistent stomach pain eventually took him to the doctor, tests revealed pancreatic cancer that had already spread to his liver and kidneys.
Lauren remembers the moment he came home from the GP and told her it was cancer.
He wasn’t an overly emotional man, but when I gave him a hug, we cried. That was rare for us.
Her mum’s experience was very different.
Lauren was at Disney World on a trip planned to recapture some joy after losing her dad when her mum called to tell her she too had pancreatic cancer.
Her mum had developed unusual itching and yellowing of her skin. With the family already more alert to pancreatic cancer after her dad’s experience, she sought medical advice and doctors discovered a tumour blocking her bile duct.
This time, the cancer was found before it had spread.
Understanding your family risk
Lauren’s experience is a reminder that knowing the signs of pancreatic cancer matters but understanding your family history can be important too.
Most pancreatic cancers are not inherited. However, around 10% are linked to an inherited gene change, and having pancreatic cancer in your family may affect your own level of risk.
Genetic testing can help identify inherited gene changes associated with pancreatic cancer, while understanding who in your family has been diagnosed, and at what age, can help health professionals determine whether further assessment may be appropriate.
For people like Lauren, those are questions that may never have occurred to them before pancreatic cancer entered their family.
“Ask doctors the stupid questions - they may not be stupid”
After losing her dad, Lauren’s family participated in Remember September. Following her mum’s death, Lauren wanted to do more and volunteered at Put Your Foot Down.
By becoming involved with Pankind and sharing her family’s experience, she hopes others will ask the questions her own family once knew so little about.
If pancreatic cancer has affected someone in your family, understanding your family history could be an important first step.
Is pancreatic cancer in your family?
Pankind’s free Family History Checker takes around three minutes and asks a few simple questions about pancreatic cancer in your family. It can help indicate whether your family history suggests an elevated risk and guide you towards appropriate next steps, which may include speaking with your GP, genetic counselling or further assessment.