The breakthrough, led by Mariano Barbacid at the Spanish National Cancer Research Center (CNIO), targeted pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC), a disease that accounts for about 90% of pancreatic cancers and has a grim five-year relative survival rate of just 13% across all stages, per American Cancer Society data. Daraxonrasib inhibits the mutated KRAS protein directly, halting downstream signals that promote cell proliferation. SD36 degrades STAT3, an orthogonal protein that supports tumor survival independently of KRAS. In experiments, genetic models mimicking the therapy eradicated orthotopic PDAC tumors induced by KRAS and TP53 mutations in mice. “These findings should guide the development of new clinical trials that may benefit PDAC patients,” the study concluded.