Julie Fleshman, President and CEO of Pancreatic Cancer Action Network (PanCAN), shared a post on LinkedIn:
“I’m incredibly excited and proud to share the news that today there is a new standard of care for pancreatic cancer! The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first RAS inhibitor for patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma (PDAC) who have received at least one prior systemic therapy or are not candidates for multiagent systemic therapy — Rasonque (daraxonrasib). We have all fought so hard to get to this moment — it is the most significant advancement we have ever seen in pancreatic cancer.
As you know, for decades, RAS was considered ‘undruggable,’ meaning that there was no effective way to target RAS. Rasonque is a targeted therapy that showed a doubling of survival compared to chemotherapy as well as improved quality of life for patients following clinical trials. This represents the first FDA approval of a RAS-targeting therapy that is broadly effective for this disease, greatly expanding the potential benefit of targeted therapies for patients with pancreatic cancer.
Today’s announcement represents transformational progress for people affected by pancreatic cancer and reflects what is possible when patients, researchers, clinicians, advocates, industry and government work together toward a common goal. PanCAN has advocated for years to increase federal research funding for this disease, and we have invested millions of dollars in our own research strategy. Now, we are seeing advances in research, clinical trials and more personalized treatment approaches like Rasonque.
Today’s approval closes one chapter and opens the next, a new era of pancreatic cancer treatment. This first approval, along with more drugs in the pipeline targeting RAS than ever before, marks the start of what promises to be a much more hopeful future for patients facing this devastating diagnosis.
We are grateful to industry partners like Revolution Medicines for investing in the science and research that made this clinical trial possible. And we are very thankful for the patients who participated in this trial and all clinical trials.
A special thanks to the PanCAN Community for helping us get to this historic moment and turning science into survival.”
Other posts featuring Julie Fleshman on OncoDaily.