16/06/2026
By Hashem Al Ghali
A new pill doubles survival time in patients — the breakthrough has left scientists stunned.
Pancreatic cancer has long been one of medicine's hardest battles — most patients are diagnosed only after the disease has already spread, and treatment options have barely moved the needle in decades. That may finally be changing.
Results from a major clinical trial, presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology's annual meeting in Chicago, show that a once-daily pill called daraxonrasib roughly doubled survival time for patients with advanced pancreatic cancer, with fewer side-effects than chemotherapy.
The numbers tell the story: in a trial of around 500 patients whose cancer had spread, those taking the pill lived an average of 13.2 months, compared with roughly 6.6 months on standard chemo.
Oncologists who weren't involved in the study have called the results unprecedented, with one veteran specialist admitting she cried in clinic when she read them. ASCO's chief medical officer went further, saying it wasn't just a home run but "a grand slam."
So how does it work? Daraxonrasib targets Kras, a protein that drives the vast majority of pancreatic cancers by telling cells to keep growing and dividing when they shouldn't. The drug essentially grabs and switches off this overactive protein — and crucially, it does so regardless of which Kras mutation a patient has. Researchers say this new class of "Ras(On)" inhibitors could open the door to a wider treatment revolution for a cancer that has resisted progress for far too long.
source:
A. Gregory. The Guardian (2026). “Daily pill can double survival time for world’s deadliest cancer, trial shows.”
