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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cI 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\u2019t go on like that,\u201d Bershad said.<\/p>\n
After multiple doctor visits to get answers, last November, Bershad was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know, I was kind of shocked, but at least I had something tangible to go on with now and not just worry about what\u2019s happening,\u201d Bershad said.<\/p>\n
Starting a new treatment<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey said they had promising results from it, so that was, yeah, hopeful. Very hopeful,\u201d Bershad said.<\/p>\n
Bershad began taking daraxonrasib, an oral, once daily therapy to treat metastatic pancreatic cancer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the pill it\u2019s like you\u2019re just taking a Tylenol and I have not had any untoward reactions from it really,\u201d Bershad said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Doubling survival<\/p>\n
Bershad\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe 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\u2019s something we hope to build upon,\u201d said Mizrahi, a gastrointestinal medical oncologist at Ochsner MD Anderson Cancer Center.<\/p>\n
Mizrahi says most people have vague symptoms.<\/p>\n
\u201cSome people present to their doctors with yellow eyes and jaundice and dark urine. That\u2019s when the pancreatic cancer can block the bile duct, and some people don\u2019t have a lot of symptoms until it\u2019s really spread,\u201d Mizrahi said.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s finally offering hope to patients who haven\u2019t 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,\u201d Mizrahi said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully it\u2019s the cure, but if it\u2019s not, it gives you more quality of life of the life you have left to live,\u201d Bershad said.<\/p>\n
Bershad feels like she can live life again and plan her future.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s next<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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