Pill Nearly Doubles Survival Time in Pancreatic Cancer Trial

A once-daily pill nearly doubled average survival time for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer in a randomized trial of 500 participants. The drug, daraxonrasib, targets the mutated KRAS gene present in more than 90 percent of pancreatic tumors. Patients receiving the pill lived an average of 13.2 months compared with 6.6 months for those on chemotherapy.

The randomized study enrolled 248 patients who received daraxonrasib and 252 who received chemotherapy. Participants came from North America, Europe, and Asia, and most had tumors with specific KRAS mutations. Severe side effects occurred in 43.6 percent of patients on daraxonrasib versus 57.5 percent on chemotherapy.

"These results are landscape-changing for metastatic pancreatic cancer patients with a KRAS mutation," said Rachna Shroff, chief of the division of haematology/oncology at the University of Arizona Cancer Centre.

“More time with those we love most is truly priceless. We must do everything possible to ensure the most promising new treatments are available here in the UK.”

cancer has the highest mortality rate among major cancers. More than half of diagnosed patients die within three months. Britain records about 11,500 new cases and 10,200 deaths each year. The findings were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology annual meeting in Chicago.