How an ‘Impossible’ Idea Led to a Pancreatic Cancer Breakthrough
The New York Times • • business
Key Points:
- Daraxonrasib, a drug nearing regulatory approval, is the first to significantly extend the lives of pancreatic cancer patients by targeting the KRAS protein found in most pancreatic, lung, and colon tumors.
- Pancreatic cancer has historically been difficult to treat, with few effective therapies and many failed experimental drugs over decades.
- The development of daraxonrasib represents a major scientific breakthrough, potentially the most important cancer treatment advancement in 15 years since immunotherapy.
- The drug's success is the result of decades of persistent research funded by both public and private sectors, challenging long-held scientific assumptions about the KRAS protein.
- KRAS, once considered an "undruggable" target due to its smooth surface, has now been effectively targeted, opening new avenues for treating multiple leading causes of cancer death.