An international clinical trial recently published in The New England Journal of Medicine has revealed that a new experimental drug, named daraxonrasib, is capable of doubling the survival of patients with metastatic tumors who had already received prior chemotherapy treatment and whose disease had continued to progress. This drug is among those proposed as the future of pancreatic cancer treatment when combined with others.
Dr. Enrique de Madaria, a specialist in Digestive System at the General Hospital of Alicante and an associate professor at the Miguel Hernández University of Elche, has highlighted this advancement. De Madaria will receive the Balmis award from the Rotary Club Alicante on Friday, an acknowledgment of his scientific, healthcare, and outreach career, as well as his commitment to research in digestive diseases and the promotion of social awareness initiatives like the Pancreatic Cancer Race.
The study, led from the United States and developed across multiple centers, compared the daily administration of daraxonrasib with conventional chemotherapy in patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer who had already exhausted a first-line treatment. In this complex situation, with limited therapeutic options and a poor prognosis, the results have generated significant anticipation.
Daraxonrasib acts on the RAS biological pathway, a molecular switch that regulates cell growth. In over 90% of pancreatic cancers, there are alterations in the KRAS or RAS genes that keep the signals responsible for tumor proliferation permanently activated. The new treatment aims to block this mechanism.
Patients treated with the new drug achieved a median survival of 13.2 months, compared to 6.6 or 6.7 months for those receiving conventional chemotherapy, thus doubling survival in one of the most challenging scenarios of pancreatic cancer. Furthermore, a lower incidence of severe adverse effects was observed.
Dr. De Madaria notes that this drug opens the door to extensive research and improvement, especially if combined with other medications in the future. For its availability in Spanish hospitals, it must be approved by the European Medicines Agency.
These advancements underscore the importance of maintaining and increasing research efforts for a tumor with high mortality, often due to the difficulty of early detection and its aggressiveness. The Cities Against Pancreatic Cancer Race, an initiative in which De Madaria has played a prominent role, seeks to mobilize society to raise funds and increase the visibility of the disease.
The next edition will include Elche for the first time on June 14th, reflecting the growing social sensitivity towards pancreatic cancer research. The Balmis award recognizes the combination of scientific excellence, research commitment, and the ability to translate knowledge to society.
