Movie star Patrick Swayze has been given a huge boost in his pancreatic cancer battle - an Indiana family has launched a campaign to force U.S. medical bosses to make a revolutionary new treatment available to sufferers.

The Loughmans of Indianapolis launched their new initiative on Monday in a desperate bid to find a cure for the family matriarch, who ironically is a big fan of the ailing Ghost star.

Connie Loughman was diagnosed with deadly pancreatic cancer last summer (Aug07), just months before Swayze was diagnosed.

As part of their public campaign, the Loughman family has launched the website CureConnieAndPatrick.com and they’ve also produced a new video promoting their efforts.

A spokesman for the Loughmans says, "Well-meaning, but misguided, regulations have tied the hands of the Food & Drug Administration and the biotechnology firm, Genvec, from providing access to the only drug shown to cure the disease.

"Meanwhile, 90 per cent of patients die within one year of being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and 95 per cent are dead within five years of diagnosis."

"The Loughman family hopes that public pressure will convince the FDA and biotechnology firm, Genvec, to cut through the red tape and grant access of the gene therapy TNFerade to Mrs. Loughman… and others battling pancreatic cancer, including actor Patrick Swayze."