Early detection of pancreatic cancer may have saved my brother, says campaigner

A pancreatic cancer campaigner has said early detection of the disease could have saved her brother’s life, as she brought her 200,000-name petition to the Scottish Parliament.

Isla Gear’s brother Tam Barker died on Boxing Day last year, following months of symptoms which were not identified as being caused by cancer.

Mr Barker, a cab driver from Fife, had been to the doctor’s surgery six times and A&E three times throughout the year but the cancer was not spotted until November.

One of his final wishes was for a campaign to help others in his situation, and his sister decided to take up the cause.

On Thursday, she and Tam’s son Max, 12, handed over copies of her letter to MSPs at Holyrood.

It calls for regular monitoring of those at highest risk of pancreatic cancer and the development of new tests for early detection.

Ms Gear, from Leven in Fife, told the PA news agency a simple test in a GP’s surgery could have “given him a longer chance, if not saved his life”.

She said: “From this, we can save someone’s life in honour of what Tam wanted.

“Tam thought he would beat the statistic and he was very hopeful…

“He said ‘If anything comes from this, the one thing I want is to stop it from happening to other families’.

“I don’t know if he knew he was passing then, or if he thought he was going to be here to fight.

“But certainly I’ll do the fighting for him.”

A change.org petition she set up has secured more than 200,000 signatures and Ms Gear has joined the “unite, diagnose, save lives” campaign from the charity Pancreatic Cancer UK.

The petition is thought to be the largest related to a disease in the UK.

Public Health Minister Jenni Minto said: “I’d like to extend my deepest sympathies to Isla Gear, Max Barker, their wider family and indeed everyone who has been impacted by pancreatic cancer.

“We are committed to improving the awareness and earlier diagnosis of pancreatic cancer.

“This includes improving public awareness of possible symptoms through our Detect Cancer Earlier (DCE) Programme and supporting primary care in finding cancer earlier.

“The clinical review of the Scottish Referral Guidelines for Suspected Cancer is due to publish next month and will be supported by a programme of primary care education, to help ensure the right patient is on the right pathway at the right time.

“Additionally, we continue to expand our Rapid Cancer Diagnostic Services which provides primary care services with access to a new, fast-track diagnostic pathway for people with non-specific symptoms suspicious of cancer. The newest of these services opened last month in NHS Forth Valley.”