For the third consecutive year, the five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer increased and is now nine percent. However, the disease remains one of the nation’s deadliest. The Miami Affiliate of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network invites the community to change the course of the disease and improve patient outcomes by attending PurpleStride Miami 2017 presented by Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center on Sat., Feb. 11, at Tropical Park.

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The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN) is the global leader in the fight against pancreatic cancer with an urgent mission to improve outcomes for patients battling the disease today and double patient survival by 2020. PurpleStride events support this critical work and the organization’s key initiatives, including Precision Promise, Know Your Tumor and the Patient Registry.

"I lost my brother, Gerry, to pancreatic cancer. He was 59 years old and died 11 months after diagnosis,” said Anita Marks, PurpleStride Co-Chair of the Miami Affiliate of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. “PurpleStride Miami allows me to work harder to raise funds and awareness for this horrible disease. I not only participate in memory of my brother, but for everyone fighting the fight, and the ones who have lost -- they are all my heroes."

PurpleStride Miami, hosted by veteran TV news journalist Vickie Frazier-Williams, includes kid-friendly activities including a purple play zone and live entertainment. The Miami event is supported by national presenting sponsor Celgene, gold sponsor Barry Katz and Sandra James Charitable Foundation, gold media sponsor NBC 6 and bronze sponsor Community Medical Group.

To register, donate or learn more about PurpleStride Miami, please visit www.purplestride.org/miami. Watch the PurpleStride PSA here and the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network’s organizational PSA here.

About the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN) is the global leader accelerating the pace of research progress for one of the world’s deadliest cancers. With an urgent mission to improve outcomes for pancreatic cancer patients and double survival by 2020, the organization, founded in 1999, executes a bold and comprehensive strategy to Wage Hope through research, patient services, advocacy and community engagement. The organization’s visionary goals, world-class programs and services, extensive grassroots network, patient-focused outcomes and advisory board of scientific and medical leaders, provide the critical backdrop to help pancreatic cancer patients today and create transformational change for all patients in the future.