Live data from Hacker News

FDA approves first in class targeted therapy for metastatic pancreatic cancer

fda.gov

11–20 of 76 posts

Re: FDA approves first in class targeted therapy for metastatic pancreatic cancer

#11
My sister was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in October (48 years old) and died in June from it.

I'm glad to see a drug like this developed for people suffering from pancreatic cancer. I don't wish what my sister went through on anyone.

Damn if I don't wish it had come a little sooner.

Re: FDA approves first in class targeted therapy for metastatic pancreatic cancer

#12
post #8
post #2

My dad passed in 2020 from pancreatic cancer. He'd been to the doctor several times complaining about issues and all they would do is send him home with laxatives. Eventually it got bad enough my mom ran him to the ER when they found the cancer which had progressed into its final stages already. He was dead less than a month later. Similar story with a guy I worked with. He went home sick one day. A few days later ou…

FWIW it's commonly the case with cancers of abdominal organs: stomach, pancreas, liver, kidney, etc. These cancers are frequently not diagnosed until at an advanced stage. Symptoms tend to be nonspecific, overlap with ubiquitous conditions like constipation, gastritis. A goal of research is improving early detection of these cancers but it's an uphill battle. It's difficult to increase providers' "index of suspicion"…

That’s a generalization, pancreatic cancer is often extremely lethal, depending on the type and case the survival rate can be as or more grim than glioma. Bowel and urinary cancers including kidney cancer are often very treatable and survivable when discovered due to symptoms. I don’t think it’s helpful to group all abdominal cancers as being uniquely or especially bad or late discovered. Likewise for the particularly aggressive or advanced cancers these types of announcements and trials rarely translate to major changes in prognosis. More typical if there is any positive result it looks like additional weeks or at best months of aggressive treatments rather than significant ”cure” rates.

Re: FDA approves first in class targeted therapy for metastatic pancreatic cancer

#14
post #3
post #2

My dad passed in 2020 from pancreatic cancer. He'd been to the doctor several times complaining about issues and all they would do is send him home with laxatives. Eventually it got bad enough my mom ran him to the ER when they found the cancer which had progressed into its final stages already. He was dead less than a month later. Similar story with a guy I worked with. He went home sick one day. A few days later ou…

Absolutely terrible. As human beings, we should be prioritizing solving these kinds of problems. I don't think we need to live forever, but a graceful ending later in life remains an objective we haven't fully realized for everyone.

We do. There’s something like half a billion dollars spent on pancreatic cancer research annually in the United States alone. It’s a giant money pit and that’s created an enormous body of research, increased understanding of the biology of the cancer and just how insidious it is, and funded the careers of thousands of scientists, technicians, academics and administrators, but very little of all this translates into better treatment outcomes. There’s no evidence than just pouring more money into cancer research is going to give us a miracle cure. There are competing priorities starved for funding to that we know can use meaningful help. Not incidentally some of those include financial aid, medical care and quality of life assistance for the actual patients and their families, as well as prevention.

Re: FDA approves first in class targeted therapy for metastatic pancreatic cancer

#15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Matt Bencke's pancreatic cancer story has stuck with me. First sign in May, followed by several doctor visits which treat the symptoms. In late July, he heads to the ER. Multiple tests later, he and his wife get the diagnosis. He dies less than three months later. see https://www.wired.com/story/the-day-i-found-out-my-life-was-...

I had never heard of this story before. Thank you for sharing it.

There's also Randy Pausch, who had pancreatic cancer, and The Last Lecture.

see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Randy_Pausch#Cancer_and_death

CMU posted an HD version of his Last Lecture - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayPMfopCe1g

Re: FDA approves first in class targeted therapy for metastatic pancreatic cancer

#16
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FWIW it's commonly the case with cancers of abdominal organs: stomach, pancreas, liver, kidney, etc. These cancers are frequently not diagnosed until at an advanced stage. Symptoms tend to be nonspecific, overlap with ubiquitous conditions like constipation, gastritis. A goal of research is improving early detection of these cancers but it's an uphill battle. It's difficult to increase providers' "index of suspicion"…

That’s a generalization, pancreatic cancer is often extremely lethal, depending on the type and case the survival rate can be as or more grim than glioma. Bowel and urinary cancers including kidney cancer are often very treatable and survivable when discovered due to symptoms. I don’t think it’s helpful to group all abdominal cancers as being uniquely or especially bad or late discovered. Likewise for the particularl…

It can be disappointing to see that even a successful drug, like this one, is "only" extending life expectancy from 6.7 months to 13.2. But this is what the first steps towards a cure look like.

Childhood leukemia used to be overwhelmingly fatal, and early chemotherapy trials also only managed a couple months of remission. Researchers were even criticized for subjecting patients to harsh side effects to no apparent benefit. But thanks to that research, most patients are now cured; per capita death rates from childhood leukemia are down 14x from the 1950s, mostly driven by improved treatment.

Daraxonrasib is an incredible invention on a technical level, and a meaningful step forwards in the treatment of many cancers. We'll need a couple more equally incredible inventions to be able to cure pancreatic cancer.

Re: FDA approves first in class targeted therapy for metastatic pancreatic cancer

#17

My sister was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in October (48 years old) and died in June from it. I'm glad to see a drug like this developed for people suffering from pancreatic cancer. I don't wish what my sister went through on anyone. Damn if I don't wish it had come a little sooner.

Sorry for your loss. My mémère passed recently from it. It's a terrible illness and I'm glad that others can have more time.

Re: FDA approves first in class targeted therapy for metastatic pancreatic cancer

#19
post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Absolutely terrible. As human beings, we should be prioritizing solving these kinds of problems. I don't think we need to live forever, but a graceful ending later in life remains an objective we haven't fully realized for everyone.

We do. There’s something like half a billion dollars spent on pancreatic cancer research annually in the United States alone. It’s a giant money pit and that’s created an enormous body of research, increased understanding of the biology of the cancer and just how insidious it is, and funded the careers of thousands of scientists, technicians, academics and administrators, but very little of all this translates into b…

good point

Re: FDA approves first in class targeted therapy for metastatic pancreatic cancer

#20
My mom was diagnosed with borderline stage-4 pancreatic cancer. Fortunately she had an aggressive surgeon willing to do a Whipple procedure, and survived almost 4 years after a 4-6 month prognosis.

We were incredibly lucky to even have that time with her. Pancreatic is one of the worst cancers someone can get — both for survival and quality of life.

I’m very happy to see that we’re finally making meaningful progress on treatment.

Post reply on HN