If the pancreas is attacked by a tumor, the chances of survival are not good.Image: www.imago-images.de
Pancreatic cancer is deadlier than other types of cancer. Now an international study shows: The new drug daraxonrasib can significantly extend survival time.
June 11, 2026, 9:07 p.mJune 11, 2026, 9:07 p.m
Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest types of cancer. Almost nine out of ten patients die within five years of diagnosis. Half of those affected die within just seven to eight months. The tumor is sneaky because it lasts a long time causes hardly any symptoms and is therefore often only discovered late becomes. After a diagnosis, only around 15 to 20 percent of patients can undergo surgery. And even if this operation goes well, relapses unfortunately often occur. “There are no established early detection programs in Switzerland”says Martin Früh, interim chief physician at the Clinic for Medical Oncology and Hematology at the St.Gallen Cantonal Hospital.
Now there is hope for a drug that, according to a current international study, doubles the survival time of pancreatic cancer patients. In the USA, the Daraxonrasib tablet, which must be taken daily, is already being described by experts as a “game changer”.
The RAS gene is crucial for tumor growth
In around 90 percent of cases, the growth of pancreatic cancer is driven by changes in the so-called RAS gene. RAS is a family of proteins that act as growth switches in cells. “This signaling pathway in the cell allows tumors to grow faster than normal and form metastases.”explains Andreas Wicki from the Clinic for Medical Oncology and Hematology at the University Hospital Zurich.
This is where the drug Daraxonrasib comes in. It belongs to the group of inhibitors: The active ingredient blocks the RAS protein and thus switches off an important growth engine of many cancer cells.
With success, like the international one study with previously treated pancreatic cancer patients. 500 sick people took part: some received 300 milligrams of daraxonrasib daily, while a comparison group received chemotherapy of the treating doctors’ choice. The comparison between the two therapies showed that the Patients treated with the active ingredient survived significantly longer.
“The active ingredient is a clear step forward”
“Overall survival for pancreatic cancer increased from around 7 to 13 months,” says Wicki. However, this applies to second-line therapy, i.e. after a previous first therapy has failed. “In some types of tumors, such as pancreatic cancer in this case, the active ingredient is a clear advance,” says Wicki. “As RAS was previously considered a difficult biological target to treat, this is a remarkable development.”
At the stage in which daraxonrasib is used, there is no possibility of cure, says Martin Früh. But the drug shows one for this type of cancer unusually large improvement compared to chemotherapy. And therefore represents an important milestone on the way to improving the prognosis.
The cancer drug is not approved in Switzerland and there is still no application for approval, as the medicines authority Swissmedic explains. However, based on the available study data, Martin Früh expects that the drug will also be available here in the future. Initially, it is likely to be used for patients whose tumor continues to grow or becomes active again despite initial treatment.
There is already a program in the USA that allows seriously ill patients to receive treatment before approval. There is currently no such offer in Europe. “We hope that this will also be possible in Europe and Switzerland in a few months.”says Früh.
The oncologist assumes that a clinical trial in which daraxonrasib will be tested in first-line therapy will probably begin at the St.Gallen Cantonal Hospital by the end of 2026.
Currently, patients can take daraxonrasib only in the context of clinical studies receive. “We also have access to the drug in studies, but not currently in pancreatic cancer,” says Früh. A clinical study in St.Gallen, Basel and Freiburg is investigating the effect of the drug daraxonrasib in people with non-small cell lung cancer whose tumor has a mutation in this RAS gene. Such genetic changes are among the most common causes of lung cancer.
The University Hospital of Zurich also has a number of studies with such RAS inhibitors. “Daraxonrasib is not currently included, but other, similar substances are,” says Wicki. The number of drugs being developed against RAS is significant. “We expect that a larger number of drugs will be in clinical testing in the next few years.”
So Wicki thinks it’s possible that Daraxonrasib also used against other types of cancer could become. “RAS mutations are common events in tumors and therefore there are many types of cancer that could potentially benefit from treatment with daraxonrasib or other RAS inhibitors,” says the Zurich oncologist.
Unfortunately, resistance to the active ingredient is already known. “This means that the tumor usually adapts to the active ingredient over time and develops new ways in which it can continue to grow,” says Wicki. (schweiztoday.ch)