‘Landmark’ pancreatic cancer drug keeps patients alive for twice as long
A pill that doubles survival time for pancreatic cancer patients is being hailed as the biggest breakthrough in decades.
Doctors have called daraxonrasib a “revolution” after trial results that reportedly left scientists in tears. Terminally ill patients who took the drug were three times more likely to be alive after a year than those receiving standard chemotherapy, surviving an average of 13.2 months versus 6.7 months.
Pancreatic cancer is among the deadliest cancers and is often diagnosed too late. Actors Patrick Swayze and Alan Rickman died from the disease, with Rickman surviving just five months after diagnosis. Half of patients die within three months.
Results presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting in Chicago showed what researchers called unprecedented survival benefits. Scientists at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute studied 500 patients with metastatic cancer who had already received standard treatment.
Daraxonrasib targets the KRAS mutation, nicknamed the “death star,” which is found in nearly all pancreatic cancers, accelerates tumor growth, and helps block chemotherapy. Previously considered untreatable, the mutation can now be targeted by a daily 300mg pill that bypasses cancer cell defenses and stops cancer from multiplying.
ASCO chief medical officer Dr. Julie Gralow called the findings a “grand slam,” noting that 90% of pancreatic cancers carry a RAS mutation and that a six-month survival gain is enormous in a disease with a 3% five-year survival rate.
The treatment cut the risk of death by 60% and tripled tumor shrinkage rates. Experts said the drug could also benefit lung, colon, and other cancers with KRAS mutations.
Separately, a trial of the dual-action lung cancer drug ivonescimab found patients lived an average of 28 months versus 24 months with tislelizumab, a roughly 15% increase. The study involved 532 patients in China with advanced squamous non-small cell lung cancer.
