Pancreatic Cancer Drug Extends Survival in International Study

Patients with pancreatic cancer who took daraxonrasib lived an average of 13.2 months, compared with 6.6 to 6.7 months for those receiving chemotherapy alone, according to an international study presented May 31 at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago.

The study was co-led by a UCLA research team. The FDA announced in late April that it would grant early access to the drug for selected patients who had not responded to standard treatments.

The findings were covered widely in media outlets. Coverage focused on interest in new treatments for pancreatic cancer, a disease noted for its resistance to single-drug approaches. The co-founders of Darwin Health wrote that further work is needed to achieve larger gains against the disease.

They stated that artificial intelligence will be required for the next advances, though not for the reasons commonly assumed. The article appears in STAT+ and is available to subscribers.