- A phase 3 trial found daraxonrasib nearly doubled overall survival in previously treated metastatic pancreatic cancer.
- The drug targets KRAS-driven cancer signalling, long considered one of the hardest targets in oncology.
- The result is a major step, but side effects and regulatory approval will shape how quickly it reaches patients.
Pancreatic cancer has long been one of the most difficult cancers to treat.
One major reason is KRAS.
More than 90% of pancreatic tumours are driven by mutations in this gene.
KRAS acts like a growth switch.
When mutated, it can become stuck in the “on” position, telling cancer cells to keep multiplying.
For decades, KRAS was considered almost undruggable.
Its protein surface lacked the usual pockets that drugs need to bind effectively.
That left advanced pancreatic cancer treatment heavily dependent on chemotherapy.
Chemotherapy can slow disease, but it is often blunt, toxic and limited by resistance.
Daraxonrasib takes a different route.
Instead of attaching directly to KRAS, it binds to a molecule called cyclophilin A.
This complex can then bind to active KRAS and shut down its cancer-driving signal.
In a phase 3 trial of 500 patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer who had already received treatment, daraxonrasib nearly doubled overall survival.
Median survival rose from 6.7 months with standard chemotherapy to 13.2 months with daraxonrasib.
The drug reduced the risk of death by 60%.
For this disease, that is not a marginal result.
It is the kind of change researchers have been chasing for years.
The drug is taken daily by mouth.
The most common side effect was skin rash, affecting more than 86% of patients.
Mouth sores, diarrhoea, nausea and vomiting were also common.
- Experimental compounds make pancreatic cancer cells self-destruct in lab studies
- Scientists uncover hidden pathways pancreatic cancer uses to spread
Even so, patients taking daraxonrasib were less likely to stop treatment because of severe side effects than those receiving chemotherapy.
They also reported better quality of life and less pain.
The next step is regulatory review.
If approved, daraxonrasib could mark a shift towards more precise treatment for pancreatic cancer.
It will not make the disease easy to treat.
Resistance may still develop, and combinations with other therapies will probably be needed.
But it shows that one of pancreatic cancer’s most important targets is no longer out of reach.
