It took six GP appointments and four rushed trips to A&E before doctors finally realised something was seriously wrong with Thomas Barker.
By the time they did, it was too late.
The 47-year-old father from Fife had spent months suffering from bouts of vomiting, severe pain and constipation – symptoms repeatedly dismissed as nothing to worry about, with blood tests returning clear.
Nine months after first visiting his GP, Thomas was diagnosed with stage four pancreatic cancer during yet another emergency hospital visit. He died just four weeks later, on Boxing Day last year.
Today, his heartbroken sister Isla Barker has spoken out about his ordeal – in the hope that others won’t suffer a similar fate.
‘He had been in agony for months but it would come and go,’ says the 38-year-old carer, ‘With his tests coming back clear it was hard to get the doctors to take him seriously.’
She says even his diagnosis came about by chance – after he began vomiting in front of staff during an appointment, prompting them to send him for a scan.
‘When he was finally diagnosed it came as such a shock to the whole family,’ Isla says. ‘Even his GP couldn’t believe that was the cause of the pain.’
Thomas, who had recently retrained as a gas engineer, was described by loved ones as a devoted father to his 11-year-old son, full of plans for the future. ‘He always wanted to do more in life,’ Isla says.
Thomas Barker’s family – including his son Henry (right) – are calling for action to improve early detection of pancreatic cancer
‘I’ll never forget how Thomas described being diagnosed – he said it was like being rejected from a job. He was wheeled into a room alone and told he was going to die.’
That night, he was sent home with painkillers, a prescription for pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy – which he struggled to access due to shortages – and the promise of a referral to a cancer specialist.
He died in a hospice on Boxing Day, the day before he was due to see his consultant for the first time.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest forms of the disease, in part because its early symptoms are so subtle they often go unnoticed. Each year it claims around 10,000 lives in the UK – the equivalent of one death every hour.
Nine in ten patients die within a year of diagnosis.
A string of recent high-profile cases has drawn fresh attention to the disease. Former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson died from pancreatic cancer aged 76 in 2024, while in May 2023 it was revealed that The Smiths bassist Andy Rourke had also succumbed to the illness at the age of 59.
Although it can affect adults of any age, pancreatic cancer is most commonly diagnosed in people over 80. Like many cancers, the risk increases with age, but other known risk factors include smoking and obesity.
Worryingly, the disease is becoming more common. According to Cancer Research UK, pancreatic cancer incidence has risen by 17 per cent since the early 1990s.
Mr Barker died just a month after his diagnosis of stage four pancreatic cancer
By 2027, it is projected to overtake breast cancer as the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death in the UK.
‘The problem is the pancreas sits deep inside the body, so unlike some other cancers, you won’t see or feel a lump,’ says Dr Shivan Sivakumar, Associate Professor of Oncology at the University of Birmingham, who specialises in early detection of pancreatic cancer. ‘By the time physical symptoms appear, the disease is often already at an advanced stage.
‘If someone is experiencing abdominal pain, diarrhoea, constipation or persistent vomiting – and no clear cause has been found – they should push for answers.
‘Blood tests often come back normal, so it’s important to be persistent with your GP if symptoms continue.’
This was the case for Thomas, so it left doctors baffled at the cause of his severe symptoms.
Despite this, Isla says: ‘It just doesn’t make sense that he was not sent for a scan sooner when he was clearly suffering. It is not like he didn’t seek help, he went to the doctors repeatedly and told he was fine.’
There is a family history of the disease, with their cousin dying from pancreatic cancer two years before.
Research shows that 10 per cent of cases are genetic, and experts warn that people with a family history should be vigilant of the symptoms.
His sister Isla says that Thomas’s dying wish, which he shared on Christmas Eve last year, was to ‘make sure that this doesn’t happen to another family’
The family’s petition for the cause has now amassed 200,000 signatures, and is set to be raised in the Scottish Parliament next week
His sister Isla says that Thomas’ dying wish he told her on Christmas eve was to ‘make sure that this doesn’t happen to another family.’
Now charities are calling, alongside Isla, for better early detection of pancreatic cancer.
The family’s petition for the cause has now amassed 200,000 signatures, and is set to be raised in the Scottish Parliament next week.
‘Unfortunately cases like Tam’s are not uncommon, we see patients diagnosed in the latest stage of the disease far too often,’ says Alfie Bailey-Bearfield, head of influencing and health improvement at Pancreatic Cancer UK.
‘The UK is falling behind in pancreatic cancer care, we need to see better early detection of the disease.’
With this in mind, researchers at Imperial College London are trialling a new breath test designed to detect pancreatic cancer earlier – with funding from Pancreatic Cancer UK.
The aim is to develop a simple, non-invasive test that could be used in GP surgeries to help identify the disease before symptoms become severe.
The test works by analysing chemicals in the breath, known as volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which can be altered by cancer.
By identifying specific patterns of these compounds linked to pancreatic cancer, doctors hope to spot the disease in its earlier stages, when treatment is more likely to be effective.
The trial will collect breath samples from hundreds of patients, including those with confirmed cancer, other pancreatic conditions, and healthy individuals, to determine how accurately the test can distinguish between them.
If successful, it could offer GPs a crucial new tool for deciding which patients with vague symptoms need urgent referral.
Despite this, experts warn that current treatment options mean that early detection will not solve the high death rate from the disease.
‘Current clinical evidence suggests that early detection does not dramatically improve five year survival,’ says Dr Sivakumar.
‘There are however some really exciting treatment options currently in development such as the MRNA vaccine and certain immunotherapy drugs.’
‘The best way for people diagnosed at the moment to improve their quality of life and receive specialist treatment is to ask to be treated at a pancreatic cancer centre, like ours in Birmingham.’
