ROANOKE, Va. – 10 News wore purple on Tuesday in a show of support for a beloved and respected colleague in local television, Mark Spain, who was recently diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer.
Mark announced on social media he was diagnosed just after Thanksgiving. His colleagues at WSET shared the news with the community soon after, and said they received an outpouring of support from the community. A mailing address to send Mark a letter is listed on WSET’s website.
A GoFundMe was created to help with medical expenses. As of Tuesday night, more than $8,000 was donated.
The WSLS 10 family sends their love and support to Mark and his loved ones as he begins this fight.
To raise awareness about the disease, 10 News Anchor Rachel Lucas spoke to Dr. Dominique Dempah of LewisGale, a surgeon and expert on pancreatic cancer.
Dr. Dempah said incidence of pancreatic cancer is on the rise, but researchers aren’t sure why. Dempah said early detection can often be difficult due to where the pancreas is located in the body and because warning signs often don’t appear until the disease has advanced to a later stage.
You can watch the full interview here.
More information about pancreatic cancer can be found here from the American Cancer Society.