A daily pill can double survival time for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer, according to clinical trial results presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (Asco) annual meeting in Chicago. Experts have hailed the drug, daraxonrasib, as a 'gamechanger' and one of the biggest breakthroughs in decades for the world's deadliest cancer.
The trial involved 500 patients with pancreatic cancer that had spread. Those who took daraxonrasib lived an average of 13.2 months, compared with 6.6 to 6.7 months for patients who received chemotherapy. The drug also had fewer side-effects than chemotherapy.
Daraxonrasib works by targeting the Kras protein, which fuels nearly all pancreatic cancers. It glues molecules together to shut down Kras, stopping cancer growth. More than 90% of patients with the most common form of pancreatic cancer have a mutation in the Kras gene.
Dr Rachna Shroff, chief of oncology at the University of Arizona Cancer Center, described the results as 'landscape-changing' and said she wept when she first read them. Dr Julie Gralow, Asco's chief medical officer, called the drug a 'grand slam' for patients.
UK charities Pancreatic Cancer Action and Pancreatic Cancer UK welcomed the findings, but stressed the need to ensure such treatments are made available to patients. Paula Hanford, chief executive of Pancreatic Cancer Action, said the discovery was one of the most significant developments in treatment she had ever seen.
