How scientists found a weakness in one of the the deadliest 'undruggable' cancers

[Zorro]

An experimental pill has shown unprecedented success in treating pancreatic cancer, upending conventional wisdom about the disease.

For decades, one of the deadliest cancers had an Achilles’ heel lying in plain sight.

Pancreatic cancer is an exquisitely cruel diagnosis, leaving only 13 percent of people alive after five years. But in the early 1980s, scientists discovered a weakness — a mutated protein called KRAS — that spurred the aggressive growth and spread an array of tumors. In pancreatic cancer, it would turn out to be a key driver of nearly every case.

There was just one problem. The KRAS protein they needed to block was flat and smooth, without the crevices and cracks, pockets and sockets that a drug needs to get a toehold.

Scientists came up with various nicknames. A bowling ball with no holes. A greasy ball. Undruggable. The elephant in the room for cancer research — everyone knows it’s there, nobody wants to deal with it.

No longer.

In the span of a few weeks, the conventional wisdom on pancreatic cancer and KRAS has been upended. In April, biotech company Revolution Medicines announced that its experimental pill, called daraxonrasib, had notched an unprecedented success — patients lived for 13 months, twice as long as those given regular chemotherapy. The full details will be presented next weekend at the American Society of Clinical Oncology meeting in Chicago, but federal regulators have already expanded access to the drug while it is being reviewed.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2026/05/24/pancreatic-cancer-seemed-undruggable-then-scientists-cracked-key-target/

[area51]

1. k&r n/t

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. This sounds promising