There could be hope for the patients of advanced pancreatic cancer, with trials of a new drug showing doubling of survival time.
Presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s annual meeting in Chicago on Sunday, a trial by the US scientists involved 500 patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer who had in the past received one line of chemotherapy for the condition.
Among the 500 patient cohort, 252 stayed on regular chemotherapy and 248 were administered pill daraxonrasib. “Patients on the drug reported an overall average survival of 13.2 months as against those on chemo who reported 6.7 months. The treatment reduced risk of death by 60 %,” findings say.
The researchers reported that once a day dose of the drug led to enhanced survival among patients of advanced pancreatic cancer and significantly lower side effects too.
In the drug segment, 43.6 % patients had side effects as against 57.5 % of those who took chemotherapy.
Oncologists have described the new trial game changing for cancer, considered the hardest to address because of the late detection rate.
The experimental drug working wonders among metastatic pancreatic cancer patients has raised hopes across the medical world of positive management opportunities for one of the deadliest cancers known.
Broadly the trials have shown that advanced pancreatic cancer patients on the drug live nearly six months longer than those who took just chemotherapy.
The study has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
India records roughly 10,000 to 23,000 new cases of pancreatic cancer annually. Late detection triggers high mortality with patients normally passing away within three months of diagnosis.
