The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a new drug for pancreatic cancer that researchers say nearly doubles survival rates for patients with a specific genetic mutation, a development being described as a landmark moment in the treatment of one of the deadliest cancers.
The drug, daraxonrasib, sold under the brand name RASONQUE, received FDA approval after clinical data showed a dramatic improvement in outcomes, according to reporting by the Associated Press and confirmed by the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. Patients taking the once-daily pill saw their survival rates nearly double compared to those who did not receive the drug.
Pancreatic cancer has long been among the hardest cancers to treat and carries one of the lowest survival rates of any cancer type. Most patients are diagnosed at a late stage, when treatment options are limited and outcomes are poor. The disease kills the vast majority of patients within a year of diagnosis.
Daraxonrasib targets a mutation in the KRAS gene, which drives tumor growth in a large share of pancreatic cancer cases. For years, that mutation was considered essentially untreatable, earning it the description among researchers as "undruggable." The approval signals a shift in what is medically possible for this patient population.
The New York Times described the drug as poised to transform care for pancreatic cancer. The BBC and Fox News also reported on the approval, with Fox noting the survival rate improvement as the headline finding from the clinical trial data that supported the FDA's decision.
The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, which advocates for patients and funds research into the disease, confirmed the approval and has supported the development of drugs targeting the KRAS pathway as a central research priority.
The approval does not apply to all pancreatic cancer patients, only to those whose tumors carry the relevant mutation. Testing to identify eligible patients will be part of the treatment pathway going forward.
