A new experimental treatment may double the survival time of patients with pancreatic cancer.
The drug is being called “incredible,” “unimaginable,” “unprecedented,” “landmark” and a “game-changer.”
The treatment is called daraxonrasib, and it is a daily pill that, according to researchers, doubled survival time and had fewer side effects than chemotherapy, The Associated Press reported.
It targets mutations in the RAS gene, called KRAS. The gene typically controls cell growth. But the mutations usually make pancreatic cancer grow, and a structure in the mutation made it difficult to treat with drugs, making the condition “undruggable.”
The drug uses a molecular glue to stick to KRAS subtypes.
The study had 500 patients whose metastatic cancer had stopped responding to their prior treatments. They were randomly assigned to get daraxonrasib or more chemotherapy.
The ones who were given daraxonrasib lived for an average of 13.2 months, while those who received chemotherapy lived for 6.7 months.
The study was presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting and published in the New England Journal of Medicine, NBC News reported.
One doctor said she “actually started crying” when she saw the results. Dr. Rachna Shroff was not part of the research team, but she said that she had treated pancreatic cancer for 16 years and was amazed that “patients stayed on this treatment because it was providing durable and meaningful benefit to them.”
“It’s that big of a game-changer for those of us who treat pancreatic cancer,” she said, according to NBC News. “It’s unprecedented.”
The effectiveness of the treatment did wane, but patients did stay on it for longer than those receiving chemo, and said they had less pain and a better quality of life as the tumors shrank. Many are still taking the medication, which may extend longevity as researchers continue tracking them, the AP said.
Researchers will now examine the use of daraxonrasib earlier in a person’s diagnosis, including whether taking it may allow patients to qualify for surgery.
One person who has taken it was U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse, who said he had less pain while taking the pill.
“This is an incredible drug that’s crushing my cancer in ways that were unimaginable just a few months ago,” Sasse told CBS News in a statement.“Here in month six after I was given three months to live, I’m incredibly blown away by what science is doing and grateful for the advances that future generations are going to make.”
“It really blows it out of the water. It’s a really remarkable and landmark study,” Mass General Brigham Cancer Institute program director of hepatobiliary and pancreas oncology, Harsh Singh, said, according to The Washington Post. “This is possibly the biggest advance we have seen in pancreatic cancer, period.”
The Food and Drug Administration is said to be expediting the review, but has already allowed “expanded access” to it.
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