Celebrities have a way of motivating the public to take action. They help dictate fashion trends and set standards for mostly unattainable body shapes and sizes. They add hype to political views and philosophies and make influential statements about all sorts of issues. Like breast cancer. With its backing from celebrities like Melissa Etheridge and Sheryl Crow and Kylie Minogue — all breast cancer survivors who are speaking out and raising awareness — breast cancer has burst onto the media scene and is receiving powerful, positive attention. Kylie Minogue’s public diagnosis spurred so many women into getting their breasts checked that the Medical Journal of Australia reports a 40 percent increase in bookings for mammograms. But sometimes, celebrity diagnoses don’t elicit a response at all.

Italian tenor Luciano Pavarotti was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last month — yet the announcement barely registered on the public’s radar. Perhaps he does not command the same kind of reaction as pop singers do. Or perhaps it’s the type of cancer that keeps his public battle on the sidelines.

The breasts are a visible icon of femininity — out in the forefront for all to see. And so the issue of breast cancer is in the forefront. The pancreas, on the other hand, are hidden behind the stomach and are out of sight — and out of mind. When Apple chief executive Steve Jobs was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2004, he didn’t even know where to find his pancreas. And so this organ does not attract much fanfare — and therefore does not attract the funding and research that breast cancer does. Which is sad because this cancer is not just hidden inside the body. It’s also a hidden killer. It can’t be felt like breasts can be felt. And there is no easy way to detect it, like with mammogram and other imaging techniques. Often a diagnosis of pancreatic cancer — the fourth leading cause of cancer death in Western societies — comes with a death sentence. And more and more, breast cancer diagnoses come with promising expectations of survival.

We may not know as much as about pancreatic cancer as we do breast cancer. But there are some behaviors that may contribute to this deadly disease. So in the spirit of prevention, consider this:

• If nobody smoked, 25 percent of pancreatic cancer cases wouldn’t happen.
• Alcohol consumption can increase the risk by 15 times.
• Some studies link high meat consumption and low vegetable consumption to incidences of pancreatic cancer.
• Folate, the B vitamin in green leafy vegetables, oranges, legumes, and whole grains seem to reduce the risk. But folate supplements don’t seem to have the same healthy effect.

VICTORIA — Black Press co-owner Annabeth Black, wife of company founder David Black and one of the driving forces behind the newspaper chain’s success, died of pancreatic cancer overnight Tuesday. She was 60.

“Annabeth was good to all of us both professionally and personally. She was full of energy, good wishes,” says Jim Tighe, president of Black Press Vancouver Island. “She put herself behind the company on all levels. I have a great image of her planting flowers outside our building, her arms deep in the dirt.

“She will be missed.”

An avid gardener, Annabeth helped David run the company.

“There was hardly a decision that got made without her input,” says computer systems manager Al McGee, who has worked closely with David Black since 1979.

Even after the cancer diagnosis in 2005, Annabeth continued monitoring editorial content.

David and Annabeth married in 1970 and raised four children, twin sons Alan and Fraser, 34, and daughters Morgan, 32, and Catherine, 30. Comox Valley Record sports editor Earle Couper recalled babysitting the children in the mid-1970s. Couper was writing for the Williams Lake Tribune at the time and the Blacks had recently moved to town to take over from David’s father, Alan.

“She was a dynamic lady with a warm smile and always had a twinkle in her eye. The Blacks hosted summer staff parties … where the likes of (Tribune writer) Jerry MacDonald and other fun-seekers passed many an enjoyable hour.”

Annabeth never forgot the early days, Couper said.

“I was pleasantly surprised a few years ago to receive a phone call from Victoria from Annabeth. She just phoned to say she had enjoyed reading the Record sports section.”

David Black once told the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, purchased in 2000, that he was “very, very lucky” to find Annabeth.

“She brings quiet to my life, focuses me less on business and more on my family,” Black said.