Star Trek actors Jonathan Frakes, Armin Shimerman, Kitty Swink, and John Billingsley, along with Juan Carlos Coto, brother of Manny Coto, the late Star Trek: Enterprise writer, showrunner, and executive producer, will once again join forces in support of PurpleStride Los Angeles. The annual walk, to be held on April 26, is part of a larger national effort called PanCAN PurpleStride, which aims to end pancreatic cancer and raise awareness of the disease. PanCAN stands for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network.
Pancreatic cancer has hit home for several of the Star Trek figures mentioned above. Swink is something of a miracle story, as she is a 21-year survivor of the frequently deadly disease. She guest starred in two Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes, playing Rozahn in “Sanctuary” and Luaran in “Tacking Into the Wind.” Fans also know her as a frequent convention attendee, with her table always next to that of DS9’s Quark, Armin Shimerman, her husband since 1981.
Frakes, Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Riker and a frequent franchise director, lost his brother Daniel to pancreatic cancer on May 17, 1997. Daniel died a week before the birth of Jonathan’s daughter. He was just 41 years old. The mother of Star Trek: Enterprise co-star Billingsley, succumbed to the disease, while Manny Coto was just 62 when it claimed his life in 2023. Other familiar names among people who died from pancreatic cancer are Alex Trebek, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Patrick Swayze, Willie Garson, Rep. John Lewis, and Michael Landon. Garson portrayed the Monean scientist, Riga, in the Star Trek: Voyager episode, “Thirty Days.”
According to PanCAN, “Pancreatic cancer remains the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States and is on track to become the second leading cause. It is the only major cancer with a five-year survival rate below 20%. Because symptoms are often vague and mimic other illnesses or conditions, most patients are diagnosed in the late stages of the disease. Finding a pancreatic tumor early, when it can be surgically removed, is critical for survival. There is no standard screening strategy for pancreatic cancer, highlighting the urgent need for increased research, funding and awareness to improve patient outcomes.”
PanCAN also noted that, “After increases over the past three years, the five-year relative survival rate for pancreatic cancer remains flat at 13%.”
For more information about the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, visit www.pancan.org. And go HERE to support Team Trek Against Pancreatic Cancer.