Pancreatic cancer pill shows doubled survival in early trials
Toronto's Princess Margaret Cancer Centre plans to open clinical trials for daraxonrasib, a drug that extended survival from 6 months to over a year.
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A new pancreatic cancer drug has shown results that oncologists are calling unprecedented: patients who took the daily pill survived for more than a year, compared to just over six months for those on chemotherapy alone.
The experimental drug, daraxonrasib, works by shutting down a protein called RAS, which is mutated in more than 90 per cent of pancreatic cancer cases. For decades, RAS proteins were considered "undruggable" because there was nowhere for a drug molecule to attach. Daraxonrasib gets around that by attaching to cyclophilin A, and the two lock the RAS protein in place, stopping it from driving cancer growth.
Dr. Jennifer Knox, head of pancreatic cancer at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, independently reviewed the U.S.-led study of 500 patients published in the New England Journal of Medicine. She called the results "amazing." "To see it double the survival, I mean, it's never been seen in pancreas cancer before," Knox said in an interview Tuesday.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the hardest to treat because it's aggressive and often not discovered until it has spread to other organs. Patients on daraxonrasib also reported better quality of life and less pain. The most common side effects were rashes and a sore mouth.
Manufacturer Revolution Medicines has applied to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to license the drug. Health Canada has not yet received an application. Knox plans to open clinical trials so as many Canadian patients as possible can access the experimental drug without waiting for licensing. She's also exploring other RAS inhibitors that show promise, with the hope that starting patients on these drugs early in their treatment cycle will prove even more effective.