CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) — A groundbreaking experimental drug is offering a new glimmer of hope for patients battling pancreatic cancer—even those with advanced conditions.
Clinical trials have unveiled the potential of this new treatment, which not only extends the survival time of patients considerably—almost doubling it—but achieves this with significantly fewer side effects compared to traditional chemotherapy. This promising drug could soon become available at Virginia Commonwealth University’s (VCU) Massey Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Known as daraxonrasib, this drug is being hailed as a major breakthrough in the fight against pancreatic cancer. According to doctors Ricardo Bello and Jose Trevino at the Massey Center, it represents a significant advancement in treatment options.
Despite pancreatic cancer accounting for only around 3% of all cancer cases in the United States, it stands as the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths, underscoring the critical need for more effective treatments.
Daraxonrasib works by directly targeting and combating a specific mutation in the ‘KRAS’ gene, a mutation known to spearhead the growth of cancerous tumors.
“About 90% of patients, even 95% of patients have mutations in the RAS pathway, in that family of genes,” Dr. Bello said. “But it was considered to be un-druggable.”
But a clinical trial showed patients’ life expectancies nearly doubled, from 7 months on chemo to 13 months with daraxonrasib.
It’s also in pill form, which means patients could administer it at home and avoid the injections for chemotherapy.
“This is giving hope where were, to some degree, hopeless,” Dr. Trevino said. “Patients who have already been treated with systemic therapy, that are already metastatic, were considered hopeless. That there was nothing more we could do. And now, this drug is giving promise.”
Daraxonrasib has not been approved by the FDA yet. The findings from the clinical trial are under review. The Massey Center is working on getting the medication for eligible patients while they wait for approval.
You can learn more about daraxonrasib and the results of the clinical trial here.