{"id":609491,"date":"2026-09-08T10:14:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T10:14:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/609491\/"},"modified":"2026-09-08T10:14:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T10:14:11","slug":"us-approves-pancreatic-cancer-treatment-that-targets-undruggable-proteins-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/609491\/","title":{"rendered":"US approves pancreatic cancer treatment that targets \u2018undruggable\u2019 proteins | Business"},"content":{"rendered":"

A first-of-its-kind drug has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of metastatic pancreatic cancer<\/a>. The new drug,\u00a0Rasonque\u00a0(daraxonrasib), blocks Ras proteins, which are linked to many cancer types and were once thought to be \u2018undruggable\u2019.<\/p>\n

Pancreatic cancer is a devastating disease with a five-year survival rate of just 8% for patients suffering from its most common form. Clinical trials showed that pancreatic cancer patients who were given a daily dose of daraxonrasib in pill form survived for a median of 13 months, compared to 7 months for those undergoing standard chemotherapy.<\/p>\n

\u2018This is such an important moment for pancreatic cancer,\u2019 says Stephanie Dougan<\/a>, a cancer immunologist at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston, US. \u2018It\u2019s the first time we\u2019ve had a drug that works.\u2019<\/p>\n

In healthy cells, activation of a protein called K-Ras initiates a signalling cascade that turns on genes for cell growth and division. However, mutations in one amino acid can make K-Ras permanently active, leading to the uncontrolled cell proliferation seen in many cancers.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Daraxonrasib, developed by California-based Revolution Medicines<\/a>, works as a molecular glue that binds to another protein that is present in most cells. This produces a complex that blocks the K-Ras protein, turning off its signalling and stopping cancer growth.<\/p>\n

Mutated K-Ras is present in 90% of pancreatic cancers, around 40% of colorectal and up to 30% of lung cancers. \u2018Ras mutations are the most common mutations in all cancers,\u2019 says Channing Der<\/a>, a Ras oncogene researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, US, whose lab has worked with Revolution Medicines, including on two key studies<\/a> in 2024 on Ras-inhibitors<\/a>. \u2018This new drug is opening the door to treating other cancers, in particular lung and colorectal cancer.\u2019<\/p>\n

Der contributed to the discovery of K-Ras<\/a> in 1982, when it emerged as an obvious target for cancer therapies. But it came to be viewed as undruggable, partly because it lacked promising crevices for small molecules to bind to. The new approach relies on the drug binding to a ubiquitous protein, cyclophilin A. \u2018Rather than a tiny molecule, which cannot find a pocket on Ras, we now have a huge binary complex that grabs it,\u2019 says Der.<\/p>\n

A significant step forward<\/p>\n

Unlike two previous FDA-approved Ras inhibitors, which each target one specific mutation, daraxonrasib binds to all three Ras proteins in the body. This makes daraxonrasib potentially effective no matter which Ras mutation is driving a patient\u2019s cancer.<\/p>\n

By interfering with Ras proteins in normal tissues, daraxonrasib also causes side effects, including rashes and gastrointestinal symptoms. \u2018Normal cells are also targeted but normal cells don\u2019t have the same dependency on Ras signalling as cancer cells, so you get a nice therapeutic window,\u2019 says Dougan. However, she notes that there are signs that cancer cells eventually develop resistance to Ras inhibition, meaning that it is not a cure.<\/p>\n

\"Rasonque<\/p>\n

Despite this, the daraxonrasib approval is seen as a significant step forward for pancreatic cancer treatment. \u2018The standard of care for pancreatic cancer are two largely ineffective chemotherapy regimens, which are quite toxic,\u2019 says Der, who adds that many patients are bedridden as a result. Dougan notes that while a minority of patients have successful surgeries, in most cases the cancer will have already spread beyond the pancreas.<\/p>\n

The new drug is approved for patients who have not responded to other therapies, but there is optimism that data will support earlier use. \u2018This drug is so good that I expect it to move to first line therapy,\u2019 says Dougan. \u2018It is a huge quality of life difference to be able to take something oral that has fewer side effects [than chemotherapy].\u2019<\/p>\n

According to analysis by Der and his colleagues<\/a>, there are currently 79 anti-Ras drugs in over 200 clinical trials and more approvals are expected, with 16 in phase 3 clinical trials . \u2018Daraxonrasib is not the only show in town,\u2019 says Der. \u2018I am excited about the progress that will happen in the coming months.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u2018There was such nihilism in pancreatic cancer. Many companies wouldn\u2019t even run trials because they always fail,\u2019 says Dougan. She hopes daraxonrasib might allow immunotherapies to achieve more success. \u2018The tumours are going to be regressing or stable for six months. That gives the T-cells a chance to do something,\u2019 she says. Der also hopes that treatments involving daraxonrasib used alongside other cancer drugs could prove effective, noting that most successful cancer treatments are combination medicines.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A first-of-its-kind drug has received approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for treatment of metastatic…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":609492,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[163,85,46],"class_list":["post-609491","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-health","tag-il","tag-israel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609491","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=609491"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/609491\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/609492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=609491"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=609491"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=609491"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}