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New pancreatic cancer drug might open the door to much longer survival times

economist.com

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Re: New pancreatic cancer drug might open the door to much longer survival times

#161

Post by oh_my_goodness »

michaelmrose wrote: post #127
oh_my_goodness wrote: post #119

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately in this particular case people die about 6 months later, not 5 years. See the article.

This is just a failure of understanding. This particular advancement is part of a decades long slog which taken together allows a substantial number of people to live meaningful additional durations every single year. 6 months average by itself means that John got another 3 years even if Jane only got 3 more days. If I pulled one person out of a burning building it would be newsworthy. Doctors are and have been pulli…

I support doctors. They're doing great work. I understand that in today's US I probably should have said that explicitly, as many Americans seem to have joined the side of the cancer, viruses, etc., and now oppose doctors (or even blame doctors for the diseases). I'm not one of those irrational people.

I agree that 6 extra months (on average) means some patients get much more time than that. I agree that a statistically significant improvement on the survival rate for this terrible cancer is a very promising result longer term.

My disagreement was much narrower than that. I disagree that 6 extra months is equivalent to 5 extra years. I disagree that people living an extra 6 months on average is equivalent to one person living 3 extra years and one person living 3 extra days. I think 3 days and 3 years average out to about 1.5 years, not to 6 months.

Think of me as a living fossil who takes it for granted that everyone appreciates how much medicine improves our lives.

Re: New pancreatic cancer drug might open the door to much longer survival times

#162

Post by chilldsgn »

AbstractH24 wrote: post #157

My mother's cousin just died from pancreatic cancer on Monday. She was in a trial for this drug and failed. Trying to figure out how I feel about this or how my family would. Personally, I have epilepsy and am increasingly aware that while some paradigm-shifting treatments are on the horizon, they are a decade or so away and likely won't come to market in time to fully help me (particularly reverse small but accumula…

I am sorry for your loss... Someone I love was also on this drug and it wasn't effective. I hope it helps some people, this is an awful disease.

Re: New pancreatic cancer drug might open the door to much longer survival times

#163

Post by AbstractH24 »

chilldsgn wrote: post #162
AbstractH24 wrote: post #157

My mother's cousin just died from pancreatic cancer on Monday. She was in a trial for this drug and failed. Trying to figure out how I feel about this or how my family would. Personally, I have epilepsy and am increasingly aware that while some paradigm-shifting treatments are on the horizon, they are a decade or so away and likely won't come to market in time to fully help me (particularly reverse small but accumula…

I am sorry for your loss... Someone I love was also on this drug and it wasn't effective. I hope it helps some people, this is an awful disease.

Thank you

Failing a treatment that has held promise for so many others and been heralded as paradigm-shifting is such a weird place to be. There's comfort in knowing others won't suffer, but loneliness is knowing you or a loved one still is.

Re: New pancreatic cancer drug might open the door to much longer survival times

#164

Post by pvaldes »

fillskills wrote: post #37
pdar4123 wrote: post #11

Please remember that science is under attack in the United States - new proposals would gut the nih even beyond the horror that is ongoing. As a scientist I am horrified and I truly hope that we don’t abandon the usas historically strong investment in the future.

Kindly share more details

> Kindly share more details (about your claim that science is under attack in the United States)

Is of public knowledge that the National Science Foundation and funds for thousands of scientific projects were gutted by DOGE in 2025.

Each one of the research lines cut needed typically 10 years to grow, so Trump and GOP had destroyed an incredible amount of years of research just on 2025, with consequences probably extending into 2035 or so. Without any visible benefit for Americans, that had still seen their debt sky-rocketing while their taxes are spent in pools and sinks.

Trump has also assured to engrave into the brains of the whole scientific community that US is now an hostile place for students and researchers. The whole planet had seen the main universities attacked by Trump (with Harvard resisting, and Columbia losing their pride), the foreign students targeted by ICE and the department of Education eviscerated

Also the thousands of workers in USAID and Health and Human Services fired for fun. Without mentioning the DOGE mess done at the national nuclear safety administration with 400 essential workers fired and then asked to return to the job ASAP, please, please.

Re: New pancreatic cancer drug might open the door to much longer survival times

#165

Post by pharaohgeek »

Nippon_anzai wrote: post #27
gavinray wrote: post #15

To offer context for others: The bigger deal about this is that KRAS was considered an "undruggable" target. Recent advancements have allowed us to design biologics to do things we previously thought impossible, which broadens the horizons for other treatments in the future. Baby steps.

What's next then?

The Johns Hopkins Children's' Center is looking at trialing it for rhabdomyosarcoma, a particularly deadly form of cancer that primary targets children. If successful, this would represent a HUGE leap forward in its treatment.

Re: New pancreatic cancer drug might open the door to much longer survival times

#166

Post by pharaohgeek »

I was fortunate to participate in the trial for this drug for over a year. It is nothing short of a miracle drug (although there is still more that can be done). I was forced to withdraw after the drug lost its effectiveness and my disease progressed. That said, though, for over a year all of my tumors either disappeared, shrank, or remained stable. For a disease that was largely considered a near-immediate death sentence, this drug is an absolute game change. I am eternally grateful for the scientists and researchers at RevMed.

Re: New pancreatic cancer drug might open the door to much longer survival times

#167

Post by pharaohgeek »

noisy_boy wrote: post #114
fhdkweig wrote: post #5

The relevant line is: "oncologists went wild over the results of a drug called daraxonrasib." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daraxonrasib

I kinda want to see a group of oncologists lose it and go wild and party like never before.

There was a KRAS conference a couple of weeks ago, and as I understand it that's exactly what happened. It is such a game changer that they could not contain their excitement. For all the ridiculous talk of "they're being paid by 'Big Pharma' to prolong treatment to make them money", I assure you that oncologists DEEPLY want to become "obsolete". They want a cure. They want patients to live. Drugs like this and many others on the horizon are another step in that process.

Re: New pancreatic cancer drug might open the door to much longer survival times

#168

Post by fastasucan »

This cancer is a pain. My father was extremely lucky, and was diagnosed early. Next up was months of chemo that left him to be a shell of himself. Then he could be operated. They removed parts of his stomach, his spleen and duodenum. And his whole pancreas.

Complications after his surgery meant he had two more. He is now, three weeks after the first operation learning to walk again. It will be an additional week or two untill he can eat. (Without the complication he would have been walking and eating two weeks after the first operation). Oh and he is a diabetic now, since they removed his pancreas.

Just crossing my fingers that he will get out of the hospital without any more complications, and adapt to the new life.

Re: New pancreatic cancer drug might open the door to much longer survival times

#169

Post by dyauspitr »

Hendrikto wrote: post #143
dyauspitr wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Only cells that have the necessary signature get the edit

So the exact opposite of what you said initially.

No, a mechanism that acts on every cell on the body doesn’t mean it changes every cell. The primary problem with gene replacement therapies is they cannot be effectively delivered to every cell. If we can find a way to deliver to every cell than just the ones with the right signature will get the changes.

Re: New pancreatic cancer drug might open the door to much longer survival times

#170

Post by monocularvision »

pharaohgeek wrote: post #166

I was fortunate to participate in the trial for this drug for over a year. It is nothing short of a miracle drug (although there is still more that can be done). I was forced to withdraw after the drug lost its effectiveness and my disease progressed. That said, though, for over a year all of my tumors either disappeared, shrank, or remained stable. For a disease that was largely considered a near-immediate death sen…

Thanks for sharing your story. Praying for you and your family in this time.
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