A daily pill called daraxonrasib has been shown to double survival time in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer, according to results from a clinical trial presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (Asco) annual meeting in Chicago. Experts have hailed the drug as a 'gamechanger' and one of the biggest breakthroughs in decades for the world's deadliest cancer.
The trial, involving 500 patients with pancreatic cancer that had spread, found that those taking daraxonrasib lived an average of 13.2 months, compared with 6.6 to 6.7 months for those receiving chemotherapy. The drug also had fewer side-effects than standard treatment.
Daraxonrasib works by targeting the Kras protein, which fuels nearly all pancreatic cancers. It acts as a Ras(On) multi-selective inhibitor, gluing molecules together to shut down the protein. More than 90% of patients with the most common form of pancreatic cancer, pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma, 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'. Paula Hanford, chief executive of Pancreatic Cancer Action, said the discovery was one of the most significant treatment developments she had ever seen.
Anna Jewell, director of services at Pancreatic Cancer UK, stressed the importance of ensuring such drugs are made available to patients, noting that half of all people with pancreatic cancer die within three months of diagnosis.
