New pancreatic cancer drug might open the door to much longer survival times
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Drug daraxonrasib nearly doubles median survival for pancreatic cancer patients, from 6.7 to 13.2 months.
Oncologists gave a standing ovation at a May conference in Chicago for results of daraxonrasib, a pancreatic cancer drug that nearly doubled median survival times from 6.7 months to 13.2 months. The drug targets KRAS mutations, which have long been considered difficult to treat. The mechanism works by "gluing" the KRAS protein to another protein, CypA, preventing the growth switch from functioning. KRAS mutations appear in roughly 90 percent of pancreatic cancers and 50 percent of colon cancers, though this particular drug's effectiveness applies to about 20 percent of tumors. The breakthrough represents the first drug in an entirely new class of treatments.
What commenters are saying
Commenters noted the article's title overstates the finding. The discovery applies to 20 percent of tumors, not a universal cancer mechanism, though that subset represents some of the most lethal cancers. One detailed explanation clarified that KRAS had been considered "undruggable" for decades, making this new approach to inhibiting it significant. A separate discussion surfaced Michael Levin's voltage-based cancer research, which some felt deserves wider attention despite remaining outside mainstream medicine. Comments also reflected concerns about U.S. science funding cuts affecting future research progress.
One commenter questioned how the drug avoids harming healthy cells with KRAS mutations, and another asked whether cancer could develop resistance to this new drug class, though neither received substantive replies.