A new drug has shown promising results in prolonging the lives of patients with advanced pancreatic cancer, in a development that researchers see as an important step towards improving the treatment of one of the deadliest and most difficult-to-treat cancers.
A recent study revealed that the drug "Darakonseraseb" helped patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer live longer compared to traditional chemotherapy, and was also associated with fewer side effects and improved quality of life for a number of patients.
The study included 500 patients whose cancer had stopped responding to previous treatments. They were randomly assigned to receive the new drug or continue chemotherapy. The results showed that patients who received the drug lived an average of 13.2 months, compared to only 6.7 months for patients who received chemotherapy.
Dr. Zev Weinberg of the University of California, Los Angeles, one of the study's leaders, said the drug is not a cure for the disease, but it represents "a major step forward" in the fight against pancreatic cancer.
Daraxonraceb targets a mutated protein that plays a key role in tumor growth in more than 90% of pancreatic cancer patients. This protein has been a therapeutic target that has eluded researchers for decades due to the difficulty in targeting it with drugs.
According to the researchers, the drug not only extended patients' life expectancy but also helped shrink tumors, alleviate pain, and improve quality of life. Furthermore, a number of patients continued using it even after the data analysis period ended, suggesting the potential for longer-term benefits.
Experts believe that these results could represent a turning point in the treatment of the disease, especially since pancreatic cancer is still among the deadliest types of cancer, due to the difficulty of detecting it in its early stages and its rapid spread to other organs in the body.
Dr. Brian Wolpin of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute said the drug could become a new treatment standard for patients who have already undergone treatment, adding that researchers are currently studying the possibility of using it in the early stages of the disease to see if it can help shrink tumors, allowing surgery for a larger number of patients.
Among the most notable side effects recorded for the drug are skin rash and mouth ulcers, but researchers confirmed that patients tolerated it better compared to traditional chemotherapy.
Revolution Medicines funded the study, and the FDA plans to expedite its review of the drug before making a decision on its approval. The agency has also established a special program that allows some eligible patients to receive the treatment before formal approval.
The study results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine and were also presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) in Chicago.
