Let's Win and Partners Present Poster and Abstract at Gastrointestinal Cancer Symposium

NEW YORK, Jan. 19, 2018 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Let's Win! Pancreatic Cancer and partners are presenting a poster and publishing an abstract that highlights the first pancreatic cancer group Twitter chat dedicated to sharing information with the pancreatic cancer community. "Introduction of #PancChat: A novel Twitter platform to inform and engage the pancreatic cancer community" at the 2018 Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium held in San Francisco, California, from January 18-20, 2018. #PancChat is a live, hour-long monthly Twitter chat that offers patients and caregivers real-time communication in an easily accessible platform.

"The success of the PancChat shows the power of social media as a new tool to build community," says PancChat participating oncologist Allyson Ocean of Weill Cornell Medical Center; Dr. Ocean is also Chair of the Let's Win Scientific Advisory Board.

Launched in April 2016 and led by Let's Win, an initiative supported by the Lustgarten Foundation, the #PancChat team corresponds with participants and replies to tweets that are not addressed during the chat. Chat partners include the Lustgarten Foundation, Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, Celgene Corporation, and oncologists and researchers from major hospitals and cancer centers.

Pancreatic cancer remains the deadliest cancer, with a five-year survival rate of just eight percent. #PancChat informs pancreatic cancer patients, caregivers, doctors, nurses and researchers on topics relevant to the pancreatic cancer community. Participants include patients, caregivers, physicians, researchers, top ASCO social media influencers, AACR members, and advocacy organizations. Together the participants share the latest information on selected chat topics. Popular past topics have included clinical trials, hereditary or familial pancreatic cancer, and early detection.

There were 15,548 total tweets by 1,636 users, and 52,464,405 impressions from April 15, 2016, through December 31, 2017. "#PancChat clearly fills a need in the pancreatic cancer community," notes Dr. Ocean.

About Let's Win
Let's Win! Pancreatic Cancer (www.letswinpc.org) is an online pancreatic cancer community. The goal of Let's Win is to share science-driven treatment options that go beyond the traditional "standard of care." The site includes an interactive patient and family forum where patients describe their treatment plans; information on promising science; highlights from the latest clinical trials; information about managing care during treatment; and current pancreatic cancer news. The Let's Win Scientific Advisory Board comprises world-renowned scientists and physicians leading cutting-edge research on pancreatic cancer. Let's Win! Pancreatic Cancer is an initiative supported by the Lustgarten Foundation.

About the Lustgarten Foundation
The Lustgarten Foundation is America's largest private foundation dedicated to funding pancreatic cancer research. Based in Woodbury, N.Y., the Foundation supports research to find a cure for pancreatic cancer, facilitates dialogue within the medical and scientific community, and educates the public about the disease through awareness campaigns and fundraising events. Since its inception, the Lustgarten Foundation has directed $154 million to research and assembled the best scientific minds with the hope that one day, a cure can be found. Thanks to private funding, 100 percent of every dollar donated to the Foundation goes directly to pancreatic cancer research. For more information, please visit www.lustgarten.org.

About the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network
The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN, www.pancan.org) is dedicated to fighting the world's toughest cancer. In our urgent mission to save lives, we attack pancreatic cancer on all fronts: research, clinical initiatives, patient services and advocacy. Our effort is amplified by a nationwide network of grassroots support. We are determined to improve patient outcomes today and to double survival by 2020.

SOURCE Let's Win! Pancreatic Cancer