An experimental pancreatic cancer drug is predicted to revolutionize the way the cancer is treated, according to oncologists. The drug, Daraxonrasib, has been fast-tracked for approval by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which last week permitted it to be given to patients outside of clinical trials. The findings were published by Revolution Medicines, and are being referred to as a “watershed” moment by doctors in the field. Phase three of the drug’s trial found that patients who received Daraxonrasib in addition to chemotherapy saw double the survival time compared with those who just got chemotherapy. The findings also showed that in patients whose cancer had spread to other parts of the body, the drug was able to stop tumours from getting worse and kept patients alive for nearly a year and a half. The results reflect a remarkable advancement in treating pancreatic cancer, a disease which is usually only detected after it has spread to other parts of the body.
U.S. cancer centers are scrambling to enroll patients in a program for a promising pancreatic cancer drug while they await what they hope will be a speedy FDA approval.
It’s not often you see a standing ovation at a medical conference. But over the weekend, a ballroom full of cancer specialists got to their feet to applaud a slide showing that Revolution Medicine’s daraxonrasib doubled the survival time of patients with pancreatic cancer.
