In a significant development for pancreatic cancer treatment, a new drug, daraxonrasib, is showing promise for patients facing advanced stages of the disease. Irene Blair, a 59-year-old grandmother from Newark, Delaware, was given only six to eight months to live in June 2023 after her cancer progressed to stage 4. Enrolled in a clinical trial at Penn Medicine’s Abramson Cancer Center, she is now experiencing improvements in her condition thanks to this innovative therapy.
Daraxonrasib is part of a new class of drugs known as KRAS inhibitors. These medications target a specific protein that contributes to the aggressive growth of pancreatic cancer, which has the highest mortality rate among all cancers. Currently, only 13% of pancreatic cancer patients survive five years after diagnosis. The emergence of daraxonrasib marks a potential breakthrough, as it is the first major advancement in treatment options for this devastating disease in decades.
Clinical Trial Results Show Promise
The clinical trials for daraxonrasib, conducted by Revolution Medicines, Inc., have been expedited by the federal government due to encouraging early results. In a phase 1 trial involving 38 patients, the drug reportedly doubled the survival time for at least half of the participants compared to traditional chemotherapy, extending it from approximately 7 months to 15.6 months.
Mark O’Hara, Blair’s oncologist and a leading researcher in KRAS inhibitors at Penn, expressed the need for effective therapies beyond chemotherapy, which has been the primary treatment for pancreatic cancer for too long. Blair started her therapy in July and experienced a significant reduction in cancer-associated pain within three weeks. By October, imaging scans indicated that her tumors were stable or decreasing, and her most recent scan in December revealed no progression of the disease.
Impact on Quality of Life
Blair’s experience contrasts sharply with her previous treatment. Prior to starting the new drug, chemotherapy had caused her to lose 35 pounds and become too weak to walk. Now, aside from some facial rashes, she reports feeling normal and is eager to reclaim her life, having retired from her real estate job in May. She plans to travel to visit family in California and Florida and reflect on the uncertainty of her future during the holidays.
“You just wonder, ‘Will I be here next year?’” Blair remarked, highlighting the emotional toll of her diagnosis.
The development of KRAS inhibitors has been a long journey for cancer researchers. Since the discovery of the KRAS protein in 1982, scientists have sought to create drugs that can effectively target it. A breakthrough came in 2021 when the FDA approved the first KRAS inhibitors for lung cancer. With daraxonrasib being one of the first drugs tested for pancreatic cancer, it offers hope for patients, given that nearly 90% of pancreatic cancer cases involve KRAS mutations.
Notably, more than 90% of patients in the phase 1 trials experienced stalled disease progression, and roughly 30% saw their tumors shrink during treatment. The daily regimen involves taking three pills at home, with manageable side effects including rashes, diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting. According to O’Hara, these side effects are less severe than those associated with chemotherapy, allowing for a better quality of life for many patients.
As research continues into the efficacy of daraxonrasib and other KRAS inhibitors, the hope is that they will become standard treatment options for pancreatic cancer, improving survival rates and quality of life for countless patients like Irene Blair.
