For decades, pancreatic cancer has remained one of the most difficult cancers to treat. Most patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage, when surgery is no longer an option, and for those whose cancer has worsened despite chemotherapy, treatment options have been extremely limited.
That is why the recent data on daraxonrasib presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting earlier this summer is so important. In a pivotal Phase 3 study of patients with previously treated metastatic pancreatic cancer, daraxonrasib nearly doubled survival compared with chemotherapy.
A once-daily oral tablet, it is also the first chemotherapy-free treatment to show benefit in a Phase 3 trial for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer.
This progress did not happen overnight. It is the result of decades of scientific research into KRAS, a protein that is mutated in most pancreatic cancers.
For years, KRAS was considered “undruggable.” Continued investment in science and persistence from researchers have begun to change that narrative.
A breakthrough like this is not just a headline. It can mean more time, something my patients and their families hope for every day.
Daraxonrasib is not yet FDA-approved, but it is available through the FDA’s Expanded Access Program in partnership with the manufacturer for certain patients with previously treated metastatic pancreatic cancer. Researchers are also studying it in earlier stages of pancreatic cancer, in patients with untreated stage IV disease, and in combination with other novel therapies.
That is how progress builds: One discovery opens the door to the next.
As policymakers debate healthcare reform and scientific research funding, they should remember that the discoveries that will save lives tomorrow depend on the investments we make today.
Patients need care to be affordable and accessible, but they also need a system that continues to support scientific innovation.
JONATHAN MIZRAHI, M.D.
Ochsner Medical Center
Jefferson