The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new targeted treatment for advanced pancreatic cancer that significantly extends survival.
A clinical trial found that patients who received the new drug survived for an average of more than 13 months, compared with seven months for those receiving standard chemotherapy. For some patients, survival extended to several years.
The drug, daraxonrasib, is intended for people with metastatic pancreatic cancer who have already undergone chemotherapy or are not suitable for combination treatments.
Around 740 new cases are recorded in Greece each year, and about half have already spread to other parts of the body by the time of diagnosis.
The treatment can cause side effects including skin rashes, diarrhoea, fatigue and nausea. The cost is expected to reach hundreds of thousands of dollars a year, with most of it covered by health insurance.
Pancreatic cancer remains one of the most aggressive forms of cancer. According to the US National Cancer Institute, around 90% to 95% of the approximately 67,000 new pancreatic cancer cases diagnosed in the US each year are pancreatic adenocarcinoma.
In Greece, around 740 new cases are recorded each year. About half have already metastasised by the time of diagnosis, while in many other cases the tumour is too advanced to be considered operable.
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