A new experimental cancer pill has shown encouraging results against advanced pancreatic cancer, offering fresh hope for patients facing one of the most aggressive and difficult-to-treat forms of the disease.
The drug, called daraxonrasib, was tested among 500 patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer whose disease had already stopped responding to earlier treatment. In the study, patients who took the daily pill lived a median of 13.2 months, compared with 6.7 months among those who received another round of chemotherapy.
The findings, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the American Society for Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago, are being viewed as a major development in pancreatic cancer care. While the drug does not cure the disease, researchers said it offers a meaningful survival benefit with fewer severe side effects than standard chemotherapy.
Daraxonrasib works by blocking mutated RAS proteins, particularly KRAS mutations, which are known to drive tumor growth in most pancreatic cancer cases. For decades, these mutations were considered extremely difficult to target with medicine.
The development is especially relevant for countries such as the Philippines, where pancreatic cancer remains a deadly but often less publicly discussed disease. Because symptoms usually appear late, many patients are diagnosed only after the cancer has already spread, limiting treatment options and reducing survival chances.
Data from the International Agency for Research on Cancer showed that the Philippines recorded about 4,000 new pancreatic cancer cases and nearly 4,000 deaths in 2022, underscoring the disease’s high fatality rate. While pancreatic cancer is less common than breast, lung or colorectal cancer, its death toll remains nearly as high as its number of diagnosed cases because it is often detected late.
For Filipino patients, however, the treatment is not yet immediately available for routine use. Daraxonrasib remains experimental and still requires regulatory approval before it can be widely prescribed. Its eventual availability in the Philippines would depend on approval by health authorities, access programs, hospital capability and cost.
The drug’s US maker, Revolution Medicines, funded the study. The US Food and Drug Administration has allowed expanded access for eligible patients while it reviews the treatment, but such access is currently limited and subject to strict medical criteria.
Cancer experts said the findings could mark an important shift in treating pancreatic cancer, a disease that has seen fewer breakthroughs compared with other cancers. Researchers are also expected to study whether the pill can be used earlier in treatment or in combination with other therapies.
For now, doctors caution that the drug is not a cure. Its effects may eventually weaken, and patients may still experience side effects such as rash and mouth sores. Still, the results suggest that a long-elusive target in pancreatic cancer may finally be opening a new path for treatment.