Legendary Aretha Franklin earned worldwide acclaim from her hard-hitting vocals, incredible songwriting, and moving life story. She passed away from pancreatic cancer in 2018, but in order to show fans what an incredible life she led, a biopic titled Respect is set to be released this year, and the teaser trailer has officially arrived.
In the movie, Academy Award winning actress Jennifer Hudson depicts Franklin as she tries to make a hit song and initial struggles in the music industry. Other actors who appear in the film include Mary J. Blige, Forrest Whitaker, Audra McDonald, Tituss Burgess, and others.
Read MoreAretha Franklin’s Determination While Battling Pancreatic Cancer
Two of the late singer's doctors spoke to The Associated Press about how she began treatment in 2010 and wanted to continue living her life, and continue performing, as best as she could.
"I think she had her priorities very clear in mind," Dr. Manisha Shah, of Ohio State University, told the AP. "…She would ask my how long this treatment would go for, what would be her restrictions. As far as I can see, she was able to live that dream, or her plan."
Franklin's doctors said the singer's particular disease had several treatment options and they made use of targeted drug therapy and chemotherapy. They also said that until the very end of her life, they never saw signs that Franklin planned to give up the fight.
Dr. Anirban Maitra explains why catching pancreatic cancer early is crucial
Why Is Pancreatic Cancer So Hard To Treat?
Compared to other types of cancers, pancreatic cancer is one of the most difficult cancers to successfully treat. "It is the solid tumor cancer that has the worst prognosis. It is right now the third leading cause of cancer death, soon to be the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States," says Dr. Allyson Ocean, Medical Oncologist at Weill Cornell Medical Center. "Mortality is rising because it is caught so late and we don't have enough effective medications against the cancer."
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The reason pancreatic cancer is so hard to treat is because the cancer cells are surrounded by a stroma which serves as a barrier for medications to get in to the cancer to kill it. Therefore, chemotherapy and radiation treatments have a hard time getting in and penetrating the cancer cells.
“Think of pancreatic cancer as an oatmeal raisin cookie and the raisins are actually the cancer cells, and the cookie part is actually all the stroma around it,” Dr. Ocean explains. “And imagine having to navigate through all that stroma for a treatment to be able to get into a cell to kill it. So that's why the treatments just really aren't good enough to penetrate the cancer. But we're improving, we're getting better treatments.”
Dr. Allyson Ocean explains why pancreatic cancer is so hard to treat
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