ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt. (WCAX) – A St. Johnsbury woman lost her husband to pancreatic cancer just 12 days after his diagnosis, and now she\u2019s finding hope in a new drug that could change the outlook for others facing the disease.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe doctor came in, and he wrapped the curtain around the bedside, and my life changed in an instant,\u201d said Darcie McCann, recalling the trip to Dartmouth Health with her husband in February 2017 to help diagnose his stomach pains. <\/p>\n
The St. Johnsbury couple left with news they never expected. \u201cBasically said we\u2019re almost 100% sure it\u2019s pancreatic cancer. And I don\u2019t think my husband understood the ramifications of that, but I sat there knowing I was going to lose him,\u201d McCann said. <\/p>\n
Doctors gave him six months. The cancer was so aggressive, those months turned to days. \u201cWe lost him by the end of the month; twelve days,\u201d said McCann, who says she wishes she\u2019d had more time. \u201cMy husband was trying to tell me all the things that I needed to know … And I had to stop him and said, \u2018Sweetie, I\u2019ll figure it out. I don\u2019t want to spend your last night on earth talking about passwords to our computer.\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n
Pancreatic cancer is among the deadliest cancers there is. Dr. Randall Holcombe, director of the University of Vermont Cancer Center, says that\u2019s because it\u2019s rarely caught early. \u201cIt often doesn\u2019t have many early symptoms. And it\u2019s often discovered when it\u2019s already extensive and sometimes even spread to other organs like the liver,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Stage 4 patients live an average of just 12 months. But that may be changing. The FDA has approved a new drug, daraxonrasib, an oral pill that targets the gene mutation fueling the cancer\u2019s growth. In trials, it helped patients live up to a year longer than other treatments alone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think we\u2019ve had a new therapy for pancreatic cancer in the last 10 years, so it\u2019s very exciting to have a new therapy, also a new therapy that provides significant benefit,\u201d Holcombe said.<\/p>\n
UVM got access before the FDA signed off, enrolling a dozen regional patients in a free, expanded access program. Now, it\u2019s approved nationwide, but only after chemotherapy has already failed. Holcombe hopes that can change. \u201cIf we can use this medication initially rather than traditional chemotherapy, and it helps people live longer and live better than by all means, we\u2019re going to do that, but we\u2019ll need the clinical trials to show that,\u201d Holcombe said.<\/p>\n
For McCann, the news is encouraging. She can only imagine how different things might have been. \u201cPancreatic cancer is just awful, and anything that can be done to change the trajectory of what the survival rate is just amazing,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Doctors say this drug isn\u2019t a cure, but it\u2019s a step forward, and researchers believe it could eventually treat other cancers driven by the same gene. For families like Darcie\u2019s, that kind of progress offers something they didn\u2019t have: hope.<\/p>\n
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