(WXYZ) — A new drug recently approved for advanced pancreatic cancer is raising hopes for patients with another common cancer. A clinical trial found that Rasonque shrank tumors in patients with non-small-cell lung cancer.
The brand name is Rasonque, but it’s also known as daraxonrasib. What it does is target RAS, a family of proteins that can mutate and help drive some of the deadliest cancers, like pancreatic and lung cancer.
Now, researchers gave the drug to 136 patients with advanced non-small-cell lung cancer. These patients had tumors with RAS mutations and had already tried other treatments. The results were very encouraging. Tumors shrank in 31% of patients at the lower dose, rising to 37% at the highest dose.
But I want to stress that this was an early-stage study looking mainly at safety. It did not compare the drug directly with standard chemotherapy.
As for side effects, almost everyone reported some. The most common ones included rash, diarrhea, nauseamand vomiting. Some patients also developed inflammation in the mouth or digestive tract, pneumonia or low blood counts. More than half had severe side effects.
The next step is a larger trial comparing Rasonque with standard chemotherapy. That is already underway. And it should help researchers understand how well the new drug works, how long the benefits last and whether it can improve survival.
As for lung cancer prevention, the best thing you can do is avoid tobacco. If you smoke, quitting can significantly lower your risk. And if you don’t smoke, don’t start. It’s also important to avoid secondhand smoke and test your home for radon, a naturally occurring gas that can cause lung cancer.
For people at higher risk because they smoke or used to smoke, talk with your doctor about yearly low-dose CT screening. It can find lung cancer earlier, when it’s more treatable.
But remember, lung cancer can affect people who have never smoked, too. So if you have a persistent cough, unexplained weight loss or shortness of breath, don’t ignore those symptoms. The hope is that targeted treatments like Rasonque will give patients more options. But prevention and early detection are still our best tools.
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