You might think it would take something fairly spectacular to get a standing ovation from a bunch of oncologists at a conference.
But doctors at the 2026 Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago gave Daraxonrasib a 42-second standing ovation. Dr. Brian Wolpin of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute says pancreatic cancer has been especially hard to treat.
“So, pancreatic cancer has been difficult to treat. Right now, most patients get chemotherapy, and the chemotherapy does have side effects and doesn't last, meaning the response to the tumor doesn't last as long as we would like.”
Just 13% of pancreatic cancer patients survive five years after diagnosis. That drops to only three percent if it's not caught early. Dr. Wolpin says researchers may be on the verge of a breakthrough.
“Finally, after a lot of work by many people, there are some of these RAS inhibitors that are now coming to clinic. Daraxonrasib, which was tested in this study, is one of them.”
Researchers say Daraxonrasib has cut the risk of death by 60 percent.
“The study suggests adding a RAS inhibitor to chemotherapy may improve upon the efficacy of the treatment we use in patients with pancreatic cancer, and that has now led to a large phase three clinical trial.”
