Dear Editor,   It is unacceptable in this day and age that there is a cancer for which the relative five-year survival rate is still in the single digits at just six percent. It is particularly unacceptable when you consider that the overall five-year relative survival for all cancers is now 67 percent and the overall cancer incidence and death rates are declining, while the incidence and death rates for pancreatic cancer, the nation’s fourth leading cause of cancer-related death, are increasing. This situation cannot be allowed to continue.   Congress has the power to change these statistics by passing the Pancreatic Cancer Research & Education Act (S. 362/H.R. 733), which will ensure that the National Cancer Institute develops a long-term comprehensive strategic research plan. The bill has overwhelming bi-partisan support, including nearly half of the Senate and over half of the House. On June 26, advocates from Ohio will join more than 550 individuals from across the country in Washington, D.C. for the Sixth Annual Pancreatic Cancer Advocacy Day to thank Senator Sherrod Brown for his support of the Pancreatic Cancer Research & Education Act and to urge him to work for its passage before the end of the year.   Please join me in supporting those traveling to our nation’s capitol by contacting our members of Congress like Senator Brown on June 26 for a National Call-In to ask them to pass the Pancreatic Cancer Research & Education Act.  Go to www.knowitfightitendit.org to learn more.   Together, we can make a difference in the fight against pancreatic cancer.   Sincerely,   MaryKaye Mackulin