兩種藥物為致命胰臟癌的治療帶來希望（1/2）

Recently the New York Times reported the following:

(Source: The NYT)

Two Drugs Stir Hope for Treatment of Deadly Pancreatic Cancer (1/2)

In separate small clinical trials, two treatments showed promise that they could help patients with one of the most dire diagnoses in oncology.

The NYT - By Rebecca Robbins and Gina Kolata

April 21, 2026

Two treatments being tested in clinical trials are raising hopes for patients with pancreatic cancer, which has long been one of the most dire diagnoses in oncology.

Researchers presented the promising data this week at a cancer conference in San Diego. The data was collected from a small number of patients and has not yet been published in a medical journal or reviewed by regulators. Neither drug has been approved for use.

Cancer of the pancreas, the gland buried deep in the abdomen that is involved in digestion and regulates blood sugar, kills more than 50,000 Americans each year, accounting for about 8 percent of cancer deaths in the United States. Many patients die within a year of diagnosis, and only 13 percent of people live for five years after being diagnosed.

There are few treatment options, and those that are available often do little to help, which is why the new drugs are generating so much excitement.

“We are having to tell ourselves that this is in fact unprecedented,” said Dr. Robert Vonderheide, director of the Abramson Cancer Center of the University of Pennsylvania, who was not involved in the new research.

One of the experimental drugs, daraxonrasib, doubled diagnosed patients’ life expectancy, giving them over 13 months, compared to less than seven months for those who received chemotherapy in a late-stage clinical trial, according to Revolution Medicines, the company developing the drug.

A gain of six months of life is virtually unheard-of in the field. The company also said the drug’s side effects were “manageable.”

“The statistic that caught everyone’s eye was a doubling of overall survival,” said Dr. Vonderheide, who is also president-elect of the American Association for Cancer Research, the group of oncologists and scientists that is hosting the meeting in San Diego this week. “This is a patient population that has very limited options. To see that effect with a side-effect profile that is manageable unleashed a lot of excitement in the field.”

Researchers plan to present the data next month at a cancer conference in Chicago. In San Diego this week, researchers presented data from earlier stage testing of the drug that involved a few dozen patients. Many patients reported side effects like rash, diarrhea, fatigue and nausea. No patients died because of the treatment.

In a recent interview with The New York Times, former Senator Ben Sasse, a Republican from Nebraska, who late last year disclosed his terminal pancreatic cancer diagnosis, said he had been receiving that drug in a clinical trial.

He said he had been told in December that he had three or four months to live, but that the drug had shrunk his tumors and allowed him to reduce his reliance on pain medication. He had a rash on his face that he attributed to a side effect from the drug.

(to be continued)

Translation

兩種藥物為致命胰臟癌的治療帶來希望（1/2）

在兩項獨立的小型臨床試驗中，兩種療法展現出治療胰臟癌的潛力，這種癌症是腫瘤學中最致命的疾病之一。

兩種正在進行臨床試驗的療法為胰臟癌患者帶來了希望，胰臟癌長期以來都是腫瘤學中最致命的疾病之一。

研究人員本週在聖地牙哥舉行的癌症會議上公佈了這些令人鼓舞的數據。這些數據來自少量患者，尚未在醫學期刊上發表，也未經監管機構審查。這兩種藥物均未獲準使用。

胰臟癌是位於腹部深處的一個腺體，負責消化和調節血糖。每年，胰臟癌導致超過5萬美國人死亡，約佔美國癌症死亡人數的8%。許多患者在確診後一年內死亡，僅有13%的患者在確診後能存活五年。

治療選擇寥寥無幾，現有的治療手段往往收效甚微，因此，這些新藥的出現令人振奮。

未參與這項新研究的賓州大學艾布拉姆森癌症中心主任Robert Vonderheide博士說道:「我們不得不承認，這確實是前所未有的」。

根據研發該藥物的Revolution Medicines公司稱，其中一種名為daraxonrasib的實驗性藥物，使確診患者的預期壽命延長了一倍，超過13個月，而相較之下，在後期臨床試驗中接受化療的患者，其存活期不到七個月。

在癌症治療領域，延長六個月的生命幾乎是聞所未聞。該公司還表示，該藥物的副作用「可控」。

Vonderheide博士說: 「最引人注目的數據是總生存期翻了一番」。他同時也是美國癌症研究協會的候任主席，該協會由腫瘤學家和科學家組成，本週在聖地牙哥舉辦了這場會議。 「這類患者的治療選擇非常有限。這種藥物在副作用可控的情況下還能取得如此顯著的療效，在業內引起了極大的鼓舞。”

研究人員計劃下個月在芝加哥舉行的癌症會議上公佈這些數據。本週在聖地牙哥，研究人員展示了該藥物早期階段試驗的數據，該試驗涉及數十名患者。許多患者報告了皮疹、腹瀉、疲勞和噁心等副作用。沒有患者因治療而死亡。

內布拉斯加州共和黨前參議員Ben Sasse在最近接受《紐約時報》採訪時表示，他曾參與一項臨床試驗，並接受過該藥物的治療。Sasse於去年年底公開了他被診斷出患有晚期胰腺癌。

他說，去年12月醫生告訴他，他只有三、四個月的壽命了，但這種藥縮小了他的腫瘤，讓他減少了對止痛藥的依賴。他臉上長了皮疹，他認為這是藥物的副作用。

（待續）