FACTBOX: Pancreatic cancer among the worst

(Reuters) - Luciano Pavarotti, the Italian tenor known for his voice and love of life, died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 71 on Thursday.

Here are some facts about pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest forms of cancer:

* About 216,000 new cases of pancreatic cancer, mostly in developed countries, are diagnosed globally each year.

* Pancreatic cancer has the lowest survival rate of any major form of cancer, killing 97 percent of patients within five years of diagnosis.

* Half of all victims die within six months of diagnosis.

* The pancreas is a gland located behind the stomach that secretes a digestive fluid and the hormone insulin.

* The best hope of survival comes with diagnosis before the tumor has spread and careful surgery. But the cancer usually spreads before patients experience any symptoms.