A new drug to treat pancreatic cancer is expected to be available in Minnesota soon.
The new drug, daraxonrasib, is being called a game-changer in the fight against pancreatic cancer. Minnesota Oncology Doctor Girum Lemma says the study found the drug was more effective for treating metastatic pancreatic cancer than standard chemotherapy.
He says the drug was found to block a mutated protein that fuels the growth of tumors.
Some 500 patients in the study were randomly assigned the new drug. Patients took the pill every day with fewer side effects.
"This medicine helped patients live twice as long, as in chemotherapy, and this is a pill that patients take every day compared to an infusion," Dr. Lemma said.
He says patients in the study nearly doubled their survival time with fewer side effects.
"Kind of the way we think about pancreatic cancer treatment is going to change with this approach," he explains.
Dr. Lemma says the FDA approval could take a few months, but they will have it available to eligible patients within the next two weeks.
