Pancreas cancer strikes again: Dream Team Basketball Coach Chuck Daly Dies

Charles “Chuck” Daly died at the age of 78 on May 9 only two months after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Daly was a legendary basketball coach and member of the NBA Hall of Fame who during his career, served as head coach of the following teams: Boston College, University of Pennsylvania, the Cleveland Cavaliers, Detroit pistons, New Jersey Nets, Orlando Magic and America’s “Dream Team” in the 1992 Summer Olympics.

• Pancreatic cancer is primarily a disease of the elderly with 80% of the cases occurring between the ages of 60 and 80.
• It is the fourth leading cause of cancer death for men and fifth for women.
• Each year it kills more than 32,000 people in the U.s. and more than 250,000 people worldwide.
• The most important risk factors for developing this disease are family history and cigarette smoking (which doubles the risk).

Inherited genetic disorders cause 5-10% of cases of pancreatic cancer and certain genes can inrease the lifetime risk up 80%.