Queen of Soul Aretha Franklin is suffering from pancreatic cancer
It is the only major cancer with a prognosis in the single digits, and those diagnosed with pancreatic cancer have a 5 percent chance of living five years, said Dr. Diane Simeone, director of the multidisciplinary Pancreatic Tumor Clinic at the University of Michigan. Of those, 85 percent are not candidates for surgery and must undergo treatments which are not curative.
"It has the worst prognosis of any major human malignancy," Simeone said. "It is the most dreaded cancer to get."