Castlemaine couple Marianne and Ross Allan has pledged a significant investment to the Australian Pancreatic Cancer Foundation ‘Pankind’ to fast-track early detection research into pancreatic cancer.
Pancreatic cancer is currently the third biggest cancer killer of Australians. The local couple’s generous 10-year pledge will fund Australian research projects that aim to detect pancreatic cancer in the early stages and improve survival and quality of life for those diagnosed with the disease.
In January 2020, Marianne was living a normal and active life but was experiencing unexplained back pain for about six months. It was during an unrelated medical procedure that the then 72-year-old was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer.
“It just takes over your everyday life, the whole treatment situation. Everything is focused on it,” Marianne says.
“Whether it’s appointments, blood tests, CAT scans or visits to my GP or oncologist.”
Since then, Marianne has undergone three major operations and chemotherapy to treat the cancer.
She believes, had she received the correct diagnosis when she first reported symptoms, her chances of a longer lifespan would be much higher than today.
“It’s there all the time, it’s always there. And we know it’s never going to go away. I’ve just had to accept that my
life will never be the same,” she said.
Husband Ross is Marianne’s carer and says the disease is ever present.
“People don’t understand the severity of pancreatic cancer, that despite how well she looks now, in 12 or perhaps even six months Marianne could be gone,” he said.
“Pancreatic cancer is all-consuming. It’s one of those cancers that you don’t know much about until you have to know about it.”
Over many years, the couple has invested their time and money into a variety of non-profit foundations and philanthropic causes.
Ross said they’d always felt an obligation to help improve the lives of others, to use their power to make a difference.
It’s what led them to collaborate with PanKind to create ‘The Marianne Allan Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund’.
The funds will be managed through PanKind’s research program, which is overseen by an internationally recognised scientific advisory panel.
PanKind CEO Michelle Stewart said they felt genuinely humbled by the generosity of this long-term commitment.
“We sincerely thank Marianne and Ross for their transformational gift to pancreatic cancer research through PanKind, and also acting as a catalyst for raising substantial funds to see progress for the disease,” she said.
Pancreatic cancer has a five-year survival rate of 12.2 per cent, falling to six per cent in rural and regional areas. Last year the disease claimed almost as many lives as breast cancer.
More than 4500 people will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer this year and the disease has the lowest survival rates of all main cancer types.
The Marianne Allan Pancreatic Cancer Research Fund was launched as part of the PanKind 2023 grant round announcement. It’s PanKind’s mission to triple the cancer’s survival rate by 2030.
