FDA approves landmark pancreatic cancer drug, Milwaukee Public Schools teacher shares her experience with the treatment
iStock.com/hapabapa MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) – A pancreatic cancer pill was approved by the FDA on Wednesday, as a Milwaukee Public Schools educator returns for a new school year already receiving the treatment.
Rachelle Gardner has spent 36 years educating students, including those who are visually impaired. In late October of 2023, she said she developed a rash and jaundice on her face.
“I didn’t find out until a day or two later at home, where they said, ‘You know what, you got pancreatic cancer,’” Gardner said. “That really scared me and made me very worried. It made my family very worried when I told them.”
Pancreatic cancer is among the most deadly forms, in large part because it is hard to detect before it starts spreading to other organs. The American Cancer Society estimates about 67,000 new cases will be diagnosed in the United States this year and more than 52,000 people will die from the disease. The five-year overall survival rate is 13%.
After exhausting other treatment options, Garner was among the first patients receiving a first-of-its-kind pill called daraxonrasib through City of Hope Cancer Center's Expanded Access Program, which allows eligible patients to be considered for certain investigational therapies before FDA approval.
“This drug is an oral medication. It was basically produced to fight this particular cancer. It binds to the receptor and shuts the cancer down,” said Dr. Ajaz Khan, a medical oncologist at City of Hope Cancer Center.
Patients taking the drug nearly doubled their survival time, with fewer severe side effects, in a study that randomly assigned them to receive the experimental treatment or more chemotherapy. The company-funded study enrolled 500 patients whose metastatic, or spreading cancer, had quit responding to prior treatment.
Gardner said she’s had a positive experience while taking the pill.
“It’s gone down over 80%,” Gardner said. “It looks really promising, I feel good. I’m not getting sick.”
FDA regulators noted on Wednesday that they approved the drug more than six months ahead of their target date.
