Daraxonrasib and the Future of RAS Inhibitors in Pancreatic Cancer
Key Points
- Daraxonrasib yielded groundbreaking improvements in survival for patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer in the second-line setting.
- Ongoing trials will inform potential daraxonrasib combinations and the appropriate sequencing with chemotherapy regimens.
While the 2026 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting (ASCO 2026) was underway, Antonella Cammarota, MD, of Humanitas Research Hospital, interviewed Michael May, MD, of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, about the recent advancements in RAS inhibitors for patients with pancreatic cancer.
The phase 3 RASolute 302 study evaluated daraxonrasib against standard chemotherapy for patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma in the second-line setting. In the overall population, the median overall survival (OS) was 13.2 months (95% CI, 10-NE) in the daraxonrasib arm versus 6.7 months (95% CI, 5.8-8.0) in the chemotherapy arm (HR, 0.40; 95% CI, 0.30-0.53; P < .0001), according to the ASCO 2026 presentation.
“Daraxonrasib really represents an unprecedented breakthrough in the treatment of pancreatic adenocarcinoma,” said Dr. May. While a number of previous targeted therapies have benefited small subgroups of patients, daraxonrasib is broadly applicable for all patients regardless of KRAS mutation status and represents a major shift in the treatment paradigm for pancreatic cancers.
Based on the RASolute 302 data, daraxonrasib is likely to be approved in the near future for previously treated patients with metastatic pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Looking forward, daraxonrasib may follow the path of targeted therapies in other disease sites and move into earlier treatment settings. Open trials are exploring RAS inhibitor combinations and treatment sequencing with chemotherapy, and will hopefully guide treatment in the near future, said Dr. May.