Ben Sasse says he\u2019s still alive thanks to “providence, prayer and a miracle drug.”<\/p>\n
The 54-year-old former U.S. senator from Nebraska was told he had four months to live at most last December when he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer that had spread to other parts of his body, including his lungs and liver.<\/p>\n
But Sasse revealed his tumor volume has shrunk by 76% since he began taking an experimental targeted therapy that experts say offers new hope for patients with the aggressive disease. It also comes with side effects \u2014 Sasse blamed a bleeding skin rash on his face<\/a> on the drug.<\/p>\n The husband and dad of three knows his time is limited, calling his cancer diagnosis \u201ca touch of grace\u201d that forces him to confront his mortality and put his life into perspective.<\/p>\n “It’s weird to be in your early 50s and get a terminal diagnosis, and people all of a sudden act like you’re 93 or 94 and you have a lot of wisdom,” Sasse told CBS News \u201c60 Minutes\u201d<\/a> in an interview that aired on Sunday, April 26.<\/p>\n \u201cI hate cancer. But I’m also grateful for it. I tell a lot more truth to myself than I used to do it when I thought I was super omni-competent and interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n What Illness Does Ben Sasse Have?<\/strong><\/p>\n In December 2025, Sasse announced<\/a> that he was diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer that had metastasized to other parts of his body, and said he was going to die.<\/p>\n \u201cAdvanced pancreatic is nasty stuff; it\u2019s a death sentence,\u201d he wrote. \u201c(But) I\u2019m not going down without a fight.\u201d<\/p>\n The diagnosis came after Sasse experienced back and abdominal pain<\/a> last fall that he blamed on triathlon training.<\/p>\n Scans showed his torso was “chock-full of tumors,” he told The New York Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sasse represented Nebraska in the U.S. Senate for eight years. He’s also the former president of the University of Florida.<\/p>\n What Is the ‘Miracle Drug’ Sasse Is Taking?<\/strong><\/p>\n Sasse says he\u2019s taking an oral therapy called daraxonrasib as part of a clinical trial.<\/p>\n The drug targets mutations in the RAS family of genes, which can cause cancer cells to grow uncontrollably and are present in more than 90% of pancreatic cancer cases, explains the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network<\/a>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s not yet approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but has been granted a \u201cBreakthrough Therapy Designation\u201d by the agency, according to Revolution Medicines, the California company developing the targeted therapy.<\/p>\n In a randomized, controlled Phase 3 clinical trial, patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer who took a daily dose of daraxonrasib survived for a median of about 13 months compared to less than seven months for patients who underwent chemotherapy, the company announced<\/a> in April 2026.<\/p>\n The results represent \u201ca real opportunity to bring new hope for people facing this disease: hope for more time with family, hope for better quality of life and hope that ongoing and future research may ultimately lead to a cure,\u201d said Dr. Anna Berkenblit, the chief scientific and medical officer for the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, in a statement.<\/p>\n Side effects include nausea and other gastrointestinal issues, and some patients develop a rash \u201cthat can be significant,\u201d doctors who\u2019ve led clinical trials of the therapy have said<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a nasty drug. It causes crazy stuff like my body can\u2019t grow skin and so I bleed all out of a whole bunch of parts of me that shouldn\u2019t be bleeding,\u201d Sasse told The New York Times.<\/p>\n In January, Sasse shared a picture on X<\/a> of the rash on his face.<\/p>\n Rashes with bleeding are considered an uncommon side effect, but have been reported by clinical trial investigators, Revolution Medicines told CNBC<\/a>. Most rash cases associated with the drug have been “low grade,” it added.<\/p>\n What Is Ben Sasse’s Cancer Prognosis?<\/strong><\/p>\n Sasse has said his diagnosis is considered terminal and he had previously been given only months to live.<\/p>\n Pancreatic cancer has an overall five-year survival rate of 13%, according to the American Cancer Society<\/a>. When the cancer has spread to distant parts of the body such as the lungs or liver, only 3% of patients survive five years.<\/p>\n