Pancreatic cancer: An experimental pill has helped patients with advanced pancreatic cancer live longer than those given further chemotherapy, according to new research presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago.
The drug, called daraxonrasib, targets a mutated protein that drives tumour growth in most pancreatic cancer cases. Researchers said the treatment does not cure the disease, but the results mark an important step for a cancer type that has long had limited treatment options.
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The study included 500 patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer whose disease had stopped responding to earlier treatment. Participants were randomly assigned to receive either daraxonrasib or additional chemotherapy.
Patients who received the daily pill lived for a median of 13.2 months, compared with 6.7 months for those treated with chemotherapy. Researchers also reported fewer severe side effects in the pill group, along with reduced pain and better quality of life in some patients as tumours shrank.
The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine. Dr. Zev Wainberg of the University of California, Los Angeles, who helped lead the study, described the results as a major step forward, even though the drug is not a cure.
Pancreatic cancer remains one of the deadliest cancers, partly because it is often detected after it has already spread. Treatment options have also lagged behind many other cancer types, making any meaningful survival gain important for patients and doctors.
The drug works by targeting KRAS mutations, which are common in pancreatic cancer. These mutations have been difficult to treat for decades because the proteins involved were once considered hard to block with drugs.
Revolution Medicines, the company developing daraxonrasib, funded the study. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to review the drug on an expedited pathway, and expanded access is being allowed for some eligible patients while the review process continues.
Cancer specialists say the results could change the treatment approach for previously treated metastatic pancreatic cancer. Researchers are also expected to study whether the drug may help earlier in the disease, including whether tumour shrinkage could make surgery possible for more patients.