Experimental pill promises new hope for deadly pancreatic cancer
WASHINGTON (AP) – A new pill helped patients with advanced pancreatic cancer live longer, raising hopes for long-needed better treatments for one of the deadliest types of pancreatic cancer, researchers reported Sunday. cancer.
Dr. from the University of California, Los Angeles, who led the study. “Even though it doesn’t cure cancer, it’s a huge step forward,” said Zev Wainberg.
The drug is called daraxonrasib and blocks a mutated protein that triggers tumor growth in more than 90 percent of pancreatic cancer cases; This goal is one that has eluded treatment for decades.
In a study that randomly assigned the experimental drug or more chemotherapy to 500 patients whose metastatic or spreading cancer had stopped responding to previous treatment, daily pills nearly doubled survival with fewer serious side effects. The findings were published in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented Sunday at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago.
Patients receiving daraksonrasib lived an average of 13.2 months, while chemotherapy recipients lived 6.7 months. While this may seem like a small improvement, Wainberg said it’s the first drug to show a significant advantage over chemotherapy.
Dr. from the University of Arizona Cancer Center, who was not involved in the research at the ASCO meeting. “I had been treating pancreatic cancer for 16 years, and when I first saw the study results, I started crying,” Rachna Shroff said. He was amazed that “patients continue this treatment because it provides them with lasting and meaningful benefit.”
The effects of the pills wore off over time, but recipients used them for significantly longer than the comparison group and reported less pain and a better quality of life as their tumors shrank. After the data was analyzed, many were still using the drug; That means the survival gap could widen as researchers continue to follow them, Wainberg said.
Dr. from Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. Brian Wolpin presented the findings Sunday. The drug should become a “new standard of care” for previously treated metastatic pancreatic cancer, he said, adding that researchers will explore its use early in the disease, including to see whether tumor shrinkage would allow more patients to become eligible for surgery.
The side effects most likely to affect pill use are rash and mouth sores, which can be severe, he said.
Maker Revolution Medicines funded the study, and the Food and Drug Administration plans to expedite review of the drug. Meanwhile, the agency is granting so-called “expanded access” to the experimental drug for patients who meet certain criteria. The drug attracted public attention former U.S. Senator Ben Sasse He talked on “60 Minutes” about how he felt less pain while taking the medication. Oncologists are inundated with demand as the special access program launches.
Pancreatic cancer is among them most deadly forms This is largely due to the fact that it is difficult to detect before it begins to spread to other organs. The American Cancer Society estimates that nearly 67,000 new cases will be diagnosed in the United States this year and more than 52,000 people will die from the disease. The five-year overall survival rate is 13%.
Unlike other cancers that benefit from a variety of chemotherapy alternatives, pancreatic cancer has been more difficult to combat.
Cancer experts not involved in the new research expressed optimism that with dozens of experimental drugs in development, this could be a turning point in the search for new options.
The new drug targets mutations in the RAS gene family, which normally regulates cell growth. Mutations called KRAS mutations are particularly critical in exacerbating pancreatic cancer. However, the structure that makes it difficult for drugs to adhere to mutated proteins meant that this cancer agent was considered “unbearable” for a long time.
Revolution Medicines’ drug essentially uses a molecular glue to bind to multiple KRAS subtypes. Researchers will next investigate whether the drug works better in some of these subtypes, Wainberg said.
Dr. from Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, who was not involved in the research. Andrew Coveler said the drug would transform pancreatic cancer treatment.
“This thing works very differently,” he said.
Other drugs in development target specific KRAS subtypes, Wainberg said. Other approaches in early stages of testing include vaccines designed to prevent recurrence after pancreatic cancer surgery by teaching the immune system to recognize the mutated protein.
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