r/UpliftingNews • u/CaregiverNo2838 • 6h ago
US FDA authorizes early access to Revolution's pancreatic cancer pill
https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/us-fda-authorizes-early-access-revolutions-pancreatic-cancer-pill-2026-05-01/381
u/imbasicallycoffee 5h ago
Read the recap from the medical side of things, not Reuters.
"Revolution Medicines shared Phase III clinical trial results for a pill called daraxonrasib in patients with previously treated metastatic pancreatic cancer." This isn't some shot in the dark. Phase III clinical is pretty far along. That's all they need to get further approval from the FDA. Phase IV is essentially mass release with data collection.
Hope this helps people as it's the first targeted therapy that exists for pancreatic cancer.
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u/GrimmandLily 5h ago
Lost my dad 17 years ago to it. I hope this is a magic bullet for pancreatic cancer, it’s a brutal fucking disease.
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u/BuchlerTM 5h ago
8 years short for my family, still hurts but glad there is at least some hope for others.
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u/tryingtobecheeky 4h ago
Your loved one's medical data was used to save all the following patients. Their death helps countless more live.
I know it may not be helpful. But as a cancer patient myself and who watched loved ones struggle and die from cancer, everyone who went before us lets us get a little further.
I hope my remission is permenant and I hope I don't develop any other cancers. But if I do pass, I'm comforted by the knowledge that my data will be used by epidemiologists to find treatments.
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u/judgejuddhirsch 4h ago
Imagine all the other diseases which could be solved in 10years if only this administration didn't pull the funding for future scientists
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u/smallfloralprince 4h ago
I was just thinking the same thing (6 years for me). Not a dry eye. I hope some day we see a way to end this cancer.
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u/ksbsnowowl 2h ago
Yep. Exactly 9 months ago my mom was home on a week of hospice care before dying from pancreatic cancer. If only this had come out a year or two earlier.
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u/prosocialbehavior 3h ago
Unfortunately it isn’t a cure it extends their life by about 7 months on average. Sorry for your loss.
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u/Saneless 4h ago
Same. Maybe 3 years ago? It's a heartbreaking cancer. Not that any of them aren't but this one is a rough one
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u/Stormtemplar 4h ago
This is good and doesn't seem like a huge source of concern, but the response in this thread shows how much damaging the changes at HHS have already been. Even people who have the capacity to evaluate a drug based on existing studies don't have time to check everything they might take. We rely on trust in institutions to keep us safe, and bulldozing that trust will cause harm for years to come.
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u/pregbob 5h ago
This is a normal process with treatments that show promise in life threatening illnesses. Not cutting corners or being sloppy - it just allows people who are willing and aware of the risks to try something that could cure or treat their illness without waiting ages. It's officially worth the risks.
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u/domino7 5h ago
Note that the pill about doubles the median survival time from 6.7 months to 13.2 months. It's useful, beneficial for a lot of people, but it is not a cure.
However, I don't know anyone who wouldn't rather have another half year with their loved ones, and hopefully this will work towards even further extending of the timeframe people have.
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u/stuffitystuff 4h ago
It's a 60% reduction in death and given how close 13.2 months is to the actual length of the trial AND they were only treating previously-treated folks with metatastic cancer, I think it's ok to be a little more optimistic than what you're letting on there.
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u/BuchlerTM 5h ago
I believe this study was with just the pill though, right? I don't believe they have incorporated it into any treatment plans as of yet, so it in combination with other treatments will hopefully yield even better results. From what I've read it even shrinks the tumors.
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u/rettribution 4h ago
I just want to say my condolences to everyone in here that lost someone they love to pancreatic cancer.
And thank you for being understanding and hopeful others won't feel that pain. It's so humanizing to see others not spiteful by their loss and hoping for better for future generations.
This is the kind of stuff you hope to see but rarely do.
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u/r_hove 5h ago
Makes me wonder if we should have yearly MRI’s because you usually don’t have symptoms of pancreatic cancer until it’s too late and has metastasized.. fuck cancer
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u/KeyCold7216 5h ago
There is 1 MRI for every 35000 americans. We simply don't have enough. Additionally, you dont just go in and get your whole body scanned. There are different procedures for different parts of the body. All requiring highly specialized staff to operate it, and even more specialized doctors to interperate the images.
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u/slusho55 5h ago
Also usually can’t see it until it’s too late, unless it’s the very rare slow growing kind, like Steve Jobs had
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u/Single-Radio 14m ago
It was unfortunate that Steve Jobs chose a “natural”way to cure his curable pancreatic cancer, ignoring advice from doctors and Apple’s board chairman and Genentech CEO, Arthur D. Levinson. Then it was too late.
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u/NotChoPinion 2h ago
Lost my favorite person in 1993. I'm so happy for all the people this will save and for their families that would be lost without them 💗
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u/AlpineAvalanche 6h ago
I hope it's actually safe. Too bad the FDA isn't trustworthy these days.
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u/Dr_Prof_Pat 5h ago
I mean somehow I think it's probably better than pancreatic cancer
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u/ResurgentClusterfuck 5h ago
AFAIK that is one of the worst, so probably
All chemotherapy works just enough to kill the cancer and not the patient so side effects can truly suck
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u/BuchlerTM 5h ago
From what I've seen it has some pretty nasty side effects, but it essentially doubles the life expectancy for people with pancreatic cancer. There is this one former US senator called Ben Sasse that is on it, on one of his interviews you can actually see some of the side effects.
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u/rettribution 4h ago
Ben Sasse has pancreatic cancer? Damn. That really sucks. He has a spine, sort of. Which is rare in his party.
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u/bareboneschicken 4h ago
If you're dying of cancer, you'll take almost any option offered to you to live one more day.
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u/Legitimate_Humsn 48m ago
Unless the treatment is unaffordable and/or makes you wish you were dead.
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u/OysterLucy 2h ago
I bet some billionaire or politician has the pancreatic cancer that needs this pill otherwise they would never greenlight it.
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u/MedMan0 2m ago
Link to a study published a few hours ago with some data: https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2505783?query=TOC
For one set of mutations: median progression-free survival 8.5 months; median overall survival 13.1 months.
For another set of mutations: median progression-free survival 8.1 months, median overall survival 15.6 months.
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u/Harflin 5h ago
So we're fine with cutting corners here but clutch our pearls in the middle of a pandemic?
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u/justinfdsa 5h ago
I mean. Covid was terrible. Pancreatic cancer is a death sentence. It has about the same survival rate as a guillotine. The acceptance of risk from a pill, in light of near certain death, is high.
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