Pancreaskreft Nettverk Norge (Norway) was established just over a year ago, following an initiative to arrange a seminar on World Pancreatic Cancer Day (WPCD) 2016.

The network was a joint initiative by healthcare personnel, patients and their relatives following informal discussions about why so little is done to support pancreatic cancer patients in Norway. Today, the board of the network is chaired by Professor in Pathology Caroline S. Verbeke, and its members include an oncologist, a surgeon, two patients and a relative.

The network has agreed to focus its work on five areas:

• Raise awareness of pancreatic cancer among politicians, healthcare workers and the general public
• Provide relevant and reliable information about pancreatic cancer
• Improve access to new treatment modalities
• Increase funding for clinical and associated basic research
• Engage in international collaboration to reach our goals

Progress is being made in all focus areas. The group has met with politicians and have received good media coverage as part of WPCD 2017. It established a website in Norwegian with reliable information about pancreatic cancer (www.pknn.no). And progress is being made with starting more pancreatic cancer clinical trials and raising funding for more research.

Last year the organization became a member of the World Pancreatic Cancer Coalition. Being a small organization in a small country, it is of great value for the network to be part of a larger community. With regard to WPCD, especially, the group is encouraged to see what others have achieved and how they can learn from them.