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Message: <blockquote data-quote="imhotep" data-source="post: 31444610" data-attributes="member: 562115">A new medication could double survival time in patients with advanced pancreatic cancer, according to Phase III clinical trials. The medication, called daraxonrasib, is the first drug that targets cancer-causing mutations in pancreas cells. The drug targets a mutation in the KRAS gene, part of the RAS genetic family. KRAS mutations are present in 92% of pancreatic cancers. KRAS genes normally act as an “on-off” switch for cell growth. Mutated KRAS genes are stuck in the “on” position and send out a signal that causes cells to divide and grow uncontrollably, allowing cancer to form.Daraxonrasib blocks the KRAS signal by fitting into a keyhole-type spot on the gene. That spot has a complex shape and is difficult to reach within the cell. The drug gets around this problem by using a “passenger protein” as a Trojan horse. When the cell allows this protein in, daraxonrasib tags along.This is a win for the field. Until now we have been focused on immune therapies that might make tumors more vulnerable to the body’s immune system, and on finding new chemotherapy combinations that kill cancer cells.This new treatment has given us a new focus, and I think it will spur a lot of scientific discovery over the next few years. There have only been a handful of KRAS researchers and their relevance to therapy was always questioned. That is about to change.</blockquote>

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