Piedmont Oncology providers with the John B. Amos Cancer Center at Piedmont Columbus Regional are among the first community oncologists in Georgia to administer a groundbreaking new cancer treatment for pancreatic cancer. In late August, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Rasonque, a daily pill that chokes off tumor growth.
By the Numbers:
- The five-year survival rate for patients with stage 4 pancreatic cancer is about three percent.
- In the clinical trial that led to FDA approval, patients receiving Rasonque had an average survival time that was double the survival of patients receiving standard therapy— roughly, 13 months compared to less than seven months previously— an extraordinary level of improvement.
For decades, first line treatment of pancreatic cancer has been aggressive chemotherapy that offers modest benefit and significant side effects.
“Cancer has an on and off switch, but people respond differently to treatments,” said John B. Amos Cancer Center pharmacy operations manager Amber Keeton, PharmD. “Rasonque is like turning the lights off on cancer, giving patients more time with loved ones.”
One local patient is hopeful…