New pill doubles survival in pancreatic cancer

For decades, pancreatic cancer has been one of the deadliest diagnoses. It is often found late, spreads quickly and leaves patients with very few treatment options. Now, a new experimental drug is raising cautious optimism among doctors and patients alike. The drug, called daraxonrasib, is being described by researchers as a potential breakthrough after results from a large global clinical trial showed it can significantly extend life for patients with advanced disease.
Recently, a former US senator, Ben Sasse, spoke about being on medicine. He had last year announced that he had been diagnosed with late-stage pancreatic cancer and was given 3–4 months to live.
Days ago, the drug’s maker, Revolution Medicines, announced results from daraxonrasib’s phase 3 trial.
The findings showed that patients who took daraxonrasib lived a median of 13.2 months, compared to just 6.7 months for those receiving standard chemotherapy.
In simple terms, the new treatment nearly doubled survival time – something rarely seen in pancreatic cancer research.
For a disease where even small improvements are considered meaningful, this jump is being called “unprecedented” by scientists involved in the trial.
The drug works differently from chemotherapy. Instead of broadly attacking fast-growing cells, it targets a specific mutation known as RAS, which is found in more than 90 percent of pancreatic cancer cases and plays a key role in tumour growth.
Because of this targeted approach, daraxonrasib is seen as part of a new generation of “precision medicines” – treatments designed to attack cancer at its genetic roots.
Pancreatic cancer is known to be amongst the deadliest malignancies – with a five-year survival rate of just 13 percent.
In recent times, some drugs and vaccines, however, have offered hope.
In the case of daraxonrasib, some patients in trials have seen their tumours shrink significantly and reported reduced pain, although such outcomes can vary widely. Doctors also note that the drug delayed disease progression, meaning patients not only lived longer but also spent more time without their cancer worsening.