Support from Serena & Venus
- Tennis stars Serena and Venus Williams are getting real about pancreatic cancer on behalf of longtime friend and physical therapist Esther Lee.
- Lee’s cancer is stage 4 as it has metastasized and spread to her liver, lymph nodes and spine.
- Experts tell SurvivorNet that about 80% of pancreatic cancer patients present with metastatic disease, meaning the cancer has spread at the time of their diagnosis.
"Last year, my friend Esther was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and she's been by my side whenever I needed her," Serena Williams says in an emotional video posted to Instagram, fighting back tears. "I don't think I can do this, this is going to be too hard for me."
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"My family and I have joined Team Esther in support of my friend and everyone fighting this disease," Serena Williams says. "So please join us as we raise awareness and race towards a cure."
"Even though I have this diagnosis and it comes with some challenges that are just a part of my life now, it's OK to have your bumps in the road," Lee says. "You just gotta keep carrying on."
Lee's Cancer Diagnosis
When Lee, 43, began to experience fatigue and insomnia in early 2020, she never thought pancreatic cancer would be the cause.
"I was having a really hard time breathing when I would go running," Lee tells KABC News 7 in Los Angeles, Calif. "I started noticing that my upper abdomen started protruding."
Her doctors found a 14-centimeter cancerous tumor on her pancreas; the disease had been silently spreading for years.
"People always saw me as really healthy," Lee says. She played volleyball, ran marathons and did triathlons. She's even a doctor of physical therapy. "I think that's so strange that I was this very unhealthy, healthy person."
Detecting Pancreatic Cancer Early is Crucial
Her cancer had metastasized and spread to her liver, lymph nodes and spine. "So, I do have stage 4 (cancer)," she says.
Lee says she has relied on the Hirshberg Foundation's support groups, patient navigators and research to help her get through the numerous surgeries and treatments that come with a pancreatic cancer diagnosis. And, of course, her friend Williams. Lee has traveled with Williams, and her sister Venus, for about six years now as the sisters' physical therapist.
Understanding Pancreatic Cancer
Dr. Anirban Maitra, of MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, tells SurvivorNet that because the pancreas is inside the abdomen, "it often doesn't have symptoms that would tell you that something is wrong with your pancreas … by the time individuals walk into the clinic with symptoms like jaundice, weight loss, back pain or diabetes, it's often very late in the stage of the disease."
The American Cancer Society estimates that about 60,430 people will be diagnosed with this type of cancer in 2021, and about 48,220 people will die from it, which is to Maitra's point that "most people will die from this disease within a few months to a year or so from the diagnosis," he tells SurvivorNet.
"The reason for that is that most individuals, about 80 percent, will actually present with what we called advanced disease (or metastatic), which means that the cancer has either spread beyond the pancreas or into other organs like the liver, and so you cannot take it out with surgeries," he says.
Dr. Allyson Ocean explains why pancreatic cancer is so hard to treat.
Dr. Allyson Ocean, a medical oncologist at Weill Cornell Medical Center, tells SurvivorNet that pancreatic cancer is soon to be the second leading cause of cancer death in the United States.
"Mortality is rising because it's caught so late," she says, "and we don't have enough effective medications against the cancer."
So, the question in front of oncologists today is: "How can we detect this disease earlier in the process so we can have a better impact on the survival of our patients?" Maitra says.
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