Pancreatic cancer one of deadliest forms

(Reuters) - U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Here are some facts about the disease:

* Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest forms of cancer, with 37,680 U.S. cases each year and 34,290 deaths.

* The American Cancer Society says the five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer patients is about 5 percent. Most patients die within six months because the cancer shows few symptoms until it is too advanced to be helped by treatment.

* Adenocarcinoma is more common and deadly. A rare but more benign type called an islet-cell, or neuroendocrine, tumor, is more easily treated.

* If the tumor looks like it can be removed, a complex surgical procedure called the Whipple procedure can help patients live longer, with overall five-year survival about 20 percent.

* Patients whose cancer is caught before it spreads into their lymph nodes may have up to a 40 percent survival. Apple Computer chief executive officer Steve Jobs and actor Patrick Swayze are two celebrities battling pancreatic cancer.

(Reporting and writing by Maggie Fox; Editing by Bill Trott)