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"Big Breath In" by John Straley is an elegiac standalone novel that follows Delphine, a retired marine biologist living with pancreatic cancer. When an old friend asks for her help in recovering a child from a blackmarket baby broker, Delphine finds herself in danger and embarks on a dangerous undercover mission. The novel seamlessly combines heart-pumping action, insights into whale behavior, and poignant flashbacks to Delphine's life before her illness. While the plot relies on coincidence, the emotional core of the story is authentic, and Delphine's character is based on the author's wife, who has Parkinson's. [Extracted from the article]

The article relates the views of several experts on the progress or lack of progress in the field of pancreatic cancer care in the U.S. as of September 25, 2008. It notes that pancreatic cancer is gaining media popularity due to a couple of high-profile cases including that of actor Patrick Swayzes and the late Carnegie Melon professor Randy Pausch. Robert A. Wolff, primary oncologist of Pausch, believes that neoadjuvant therapy is one alternative treatment. Wen Wee Ma of Roswell Park Cancer Institute calls for research on the effect of gemcitabine.

The article announces that Global oil-and-gas giant Royal Dutch Shell, transitioning to low-carbon energy projects, has hired Thomas Brostrom, North America CEO of Danish offshore wind-power developer Orsted, as senior vice president of global renewable solutions.

The article reports on the development of the Exosomes by the exosome research firm Codiak BioSciences to exploit the natural cellular communication pathway. Topics discussed include exosomes carry various biomolecules such as proteins, sugars and nucleic acids, analysis of exosomes with glypicn one (GPC1) by researchers to detect cancer at early stage, and production of therapeutics to target pancreatic cancer.

The article discusses the highlights of a two-day meeting organized by the National Cancer Institute's Gastrointestinal Cancer Steering Committee in December 2009, to address studies on pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

The article focuses on a study which assessed the associations between lifetime body mass index (BMI) and risk for pancreatic cancer among young overweight people or obese adults.

This article reports that chronic alcoholic pancreatitis and the appearance of calcifications and diabetes is accelerated in people who smoke. Smoking is a recognized risk factor for pancreatic cancer and has been associated with chronic pancreatitis and also with type 2 diabetes. A multinational group of researchers used data from a retrospective cohort of 934 patients with chronic alcoholic pancreatitis where information on smoking was available. Smoking significantly increased the risk of pancreatic calcifications, a marker of disease progression, for smokers versus non-smokers.

The article offers news briefs related to the music industry as of November 28, 2015. Drummer Phil Taylor has died after suffering from an unspecified illness. Business magnate David Geffen has donated funds to the University of California, Los Angeles to complete a secondary school. Singer-songwriter P.F. Sloan has died after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

The article reports on the findings of a study appearing in a September 2013 issue of the "Journal of the National Cancer Institute" which revealed how adults who follow the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans may have a lower risk of developing pancreatic cancer.

The article discusses a study on the outcomes of the use of metformin in patients with diabetes and pancreatic cancer.

The article reports on the ventures launched to advanced drug discovery, including the Harrington Project for Discovery & Development, sponsored by Cleveland's University Hospitals (UH), and the Bridge Project, which will focus on pancreatic cancer and glioblastoma.

The article reports on the call by pig industry advisers to be wary of a Swedish study that shows a link between high bacon consumption and increased risk of pancreatic cancer. The study appeared in the "British Journal of Cancer." Nutritionist Carrie Ruxton noted that such types of studies do not properly control for other factors contributing to the cancer risk. Possible causes of pancreatic cancer include age, smoking and inherited genes, according to National Health Service (NHS) Choices.

The article offers information on the efforts of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network to combat cancer. According to Pamela Acosta Marquardt, founder of the group, there are more to be achieved through the network's campaigns to spread knowledge and rally support to seek for a cure. Moreover, the Network is establishing its volunteer in Nashville, Tennessee.

Several letters to the editor are presented in response to an article about Apple's decision not to disclose the health condition of chief executive officer (CEO) Steve Jobs, who is allegedly suffering from pancreatic cancer.

The author comments on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE ) AUTOTESTCON 2010, held in Orlando, Florida and a new development on cure for pancreatic cancer in 2010. It mentions that the AUTOTESTCON show was a success because it gave opportunities to attendees to participate in technical sessions. The author mentions a report in the June 17, 2010 edition of the MIT Technology Review about the implantable device that can deliver the chemotherapy directly to the affected organ.

The article discusses research being done on the biomarkers and protein signatures for detecting pancreatic cancer and mesothelioma, which references a study by presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) International Conference in Denver, Colorado from September 27-30, 2010.

The article discusses a crossover study about the effectiveness of gemcitabine plus erlotinib followed by capacitabine for treating advanced pancreatic cancer.

The article discusses a study about the link between high intra-abdominal fat and increased pancreatic cancer mortality presented by Dr. Courtney Balentine at the Digestive Disease Week held from May 1-5, 2010 in New Orleans, Louisiana.

The article focuses on a study which examined the influence of sunitinib on the overall survival and objective response rate of patients with advanced pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors.

The article discusses research on the link between pancreatic cancer and familial risk for the disease, by K. A. Brune and colleagues, published in the 2010 issue of the "Journal of the National Cancer Institute."

The article discusses research which revealed that performing pre-operative biliary drainage in patients with cancer of the pancreatic head may increase surgical complications, that references a study by N. A. van der Gaag and colleagues published in a 2010 issue of the "New England Journal of Medicine."

The article discusses research on the observed improvements in response and survival in patients with locally advanced or metastatic pancreatic carcinoma treated with capecitabine plus gemcitabine, conducted by D. Cunningham et al, published in a 2009 issue of the "Journal of Clinical Oncology."

The article discusses research whose findings failed to determine the factors contributing to the excess risk of pancreatic cancer among blacks.

The article discusses research which revealed that measurement of blood flow to the tumor and glucose consumption can serve as a tool in predicting tumor aggressiveness in patients with suspected pancreatic cancer.

This article deals with a study that investigated whether gemcitabine plus oxiliplatin or single-agent gemcitabine will lead to increased survival or symptom benefit among patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.

The article reviews the Pancreatic Cancer UK website which can be found at www.pancreaticcancer.org.uk.

The article discusses a study on the role of using accepted quality indicators in improving the care of patients with pancreatic cancer and in reducing the variability in outcomes among hospitals in the U.S.

The article discusses a study on the association between elevated fat intake of animal origin and the risk for pancreatic cancer.

This article focuses on a study which found an association between enoxaparin and a lower incidence of symptomatic venous thromboembolism when used with chemotherapy in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.

The article reports on the findings of the ESPAC-3 trial conducted by John P. Neoptolemos and colleagues which concluded that there was no survival difference between adjuvant treatment of pancreatic ductal adeoncarcinoma and the U.S. standard gemcitabine, presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting held in Orlando, Florida from May 29 to June 2, 2009.

The article discusses research on the association between high healthy lifestyle score with reduced pancreatic cancer risk, conducted by L. Jiao et al, published in a 2009 issue of the "Archives of Internal Medicine" journal.

The article reports that combining an mTOR inhibitor with a histone deacetylase inhibitor may induced pancreatic cancer cell death, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research held in Denver, Colorado from April 18 to 22, 2009.

This article deals with the changes made by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network on its guidelines for pancreatic adenocarcinoma.

The article discusses a study which revealed that those patients whose blood types are A, B or AB may be at an increased risk for developing incident pancreatic cancer.

The article focuses on a study which examined the effect of gemcitabine and erlotinib on the overall survival (OS) of patients with advanced metastatic pancreatic cancer.

The article discusses data from Radiation Therapy Oncology Group trial 9704 which found that CA 19- levels may predict overall survival (OS) in patients with resected pancreatic cancer. A prospective evaluation of post-resectional CA 19-9 was conducted by researchers as a dichotomized variable. According to the researchers, multivariate analyses confirmed that CA 19-9, when analyzed as both a continuous and a dichotomized variable, is a highly significant predictor of OS in patients with resected pancreatic cancer.

The article reports on the announcement by Apple that it will pullout from Macworld San Francisco which is being held in San Francisco, California. The news fueled speculation over the health of Steve Jobs, chairman and chief executive officer of Apple, who was diagnosed with a rare form of pancreatic cancer. According to BMO Capital Markets analyst Keith Bachman, the departure of Jobs from this Macworld suggests that this event will not be terribly meaningful.

The article discusses a study on the effectiveness of smoking cessation strategies for pancreatic cancer prevention, which was presented at the American College of Gastroenterology Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida. According to researchers, cessation strategies may be useful for cancer prevention as at-risk relatives of patients with pancreatic adenocarcinoma were more likely to develop precursor lesions if they smoked compared with those who did not. The common factors among patients with lesions are female sex and older age.

The article presents a case study of metastatic pancreatic cancer seen in a 52-year-old man. The clinical history of the patient is discussed, as well as the results of the physical and laboratory examinations performed on the patient. The management of the condition and patient outcome are explored. The article presents a discussion on the prevalence, clinical presentation and treatment of pancreatic cancer.

This article focuses on a study that examined the risk for pancreatic cancer among patients with prior exposure to hepatitis B virus (HBV). According to the study, antibodies against HBV core antigen were present in 36 patients. Results showed that patients with a previous exposure to HBV and recovery from or immunity to the disease have a higher likelihood of developing pancreatic cancer. It also found that a history of diabetes also increases a patient's risk if they had been exposed to HBV.

The article discusses research being done on the relationship between hospital type and nodal evaluation. It references a study published in a 2008 issue of "Archives of Surgery." Compared with community hospitals, more lymph nodes were examined at NCCN-NCI hospital in both gastric and pancreatic cancer. Patients with both gastric and pancreatic cancer had more nodes examined at highest-volume hospitals than low-volume hospitals.

The article focuses on a study by researchers from the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) which revealed the efficacy of the combination of gemcitabine and radiation therapy for patients with localized unresectable pancreatic cancer when compared with chemotherapy alone. The researchers found that overall survival in arm B, which consisted of 600 milligrams (mg)/m2 gemcitatine once weekly for six weeks, was 11 months, compared with 9.2 months for arm A, which consisted of 1,000 mg/m2 gemcitatine once weekly for three weeks.

The article discusses research being done on the safety of gemcitabine plus axitinib treatment regimen. It references a study by J. Spano and colleagues, published in the 2008 issue of "Lancet." The study examined the use of gemcitabine and axitinib in treating advanced pancreatic cancer. It randomly placed patients to either take combined gemcitabine and axitinib or gemcitabine alone. Study researchers concluded that combined therapy is safer than gemcitabine alone.

This section offers news briefs related to clinical trials. A study found that the survival rate for patients with pancreatic cancer could possibly double when gemcitabine is used after surgery. Another study indicates that the effectiveness of a single dose of the chemotherapy drug carboplatin is similar to that of radiation therapy but not as toxic. Phase 3 trials of bioerodible mucoadhesive (BEMA) Fentanyl reveals that the drug lessens the intensity of breakthrough pain (BTP) in cancer patients.

The article reports that early detection and therapeutics may prevent pancreatic cancer in those at high-risk people. According to Michael D. Saunders, a clinical associate professor of medicine at the University of Washington, pancreatic cancer can be diagnosed at the pre-invasive stage, and early detection can cure impending pancreatic cancer.