NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Pancreatic cancer is the third deadliest cancer in the United States. Those diagnosed often find out late, but a new treatment offers hope.
Jonelle Bershad cherishes time with family. She retired five years ago after working 45 years as an operating room nurse. She loves lunches with friends and traveling, but says she began to slow down last year.
“I had a lot of stomach issues that I never had before, and no matter what I tried, it just kept on and on and on. I felt like I couldn’t go on like that,” Bershad said.
After multiple doctor visits to get answers, last November, Bershad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.
“You know, I was kind of shocked, but at least I had something tangible to go on with now and not just worry about what’s happening,” Bershad said.
Starting a new treatment
Bershad quickly started chemotherapy, but says it took a lot out of her, and often it could be days before she felt better. In June, her doctor approached her about trying something new.
“They said they had promising results from it, so that was, yeah, hopeful. Very hopeful,” Bershad said.
Bershad began taking daraxonrasib, an oral, once daily therapy to treat metastatic pancreatic cancer.
“With the pill it’s like you’re just taking a Tylenol and I have not had any untoward reactions from it really,” Bershad said.
Daraxonrasib, also known by the brand name Rasonque, received FDA approval last month. The FDA reviewed a trial of 500 adults. Patients on daraxonrasib lived a median of 13.2 months, compared to 6.7 months on standard chemo.
Doubling survival
Bershad’s doctor, Jonathan Mizrahi, says daraxonrasib blocks an overactive protein that fuels tumor growth. He says patients who took it after chemo lived twice as long as those on standard chemo alone.
“We never had an oral targeted pill for pancreatic cancer, and we never had something in this setting that doubled survival. It truly was a groundbreaking moment for pancreatic cancer, and it’s something we hope to build upon,” said Mizrahi, a gastrointestinal medical oncologist at Ochsner MD Anderson Cancer Center.
Mizrahi says most people have vague symptoms.
“Some people present to their doctors with yellow eyes and jaundice and dark urine. That’s when the pancreatic cancer can block the bile duct, and some people don’t have a lot of symptoms until it’s really spread,” Mizrahi said.
Mizrahi says 80 to 85 percent of patients are diagnosed too late for surgery. He encourages anyone with persistent, unexplained symptoms to see a doctor. Mizrahi believes daraxonrasib is a game changer and is still being studied for earlier lines of therapy.
“It’s finally offering hope to patients who haven’t had the chance to have much to be hopeful for before. We just thank God for that and just hope to keep building on that,” Mizrahi said.
“Hopefully it’s the cure, but if it’s not, it gives you more quality of life of the life you have left to live,” Bershad said.
Bershad feels like she can live life again and plan her future.
What’s next
Since FDA approval, production of the medication should ramp up quickly. The FDA says the most common side effects of daraxonrasib include rash, nausea and abdominal pain.
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