NORFOLK, Va. — The FDA has approved a first-of-its-kind pill for pancreatic cancer, a disease that kills more than 50,000 Americans a year.
The pill nearly doubles a patient's survival time — to about 13 months — compared to chemotherapy.
The drug targets mutated proteins that fuel tumor growth and are found in over 90% of cases. The medication also has fewer severe side effects than chemotherapy.
Dr. Celine Gounder, a CBS News medical correspondent, said:
"You do get skin rash, mouth sores, diarrhea, but the discontinuation rate…so how many people had to stop taking the medications because of side effects, with this pill, it was only 1 percent in the trials, vs. 11 percent with chemotherapy."
A year's worth of treatment costs nearly $500,000. It is unclear how much private insurance and Medicare will cover.
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