Life After Chemotherapy: A Patient With Pancreatic Cancer Describes Daily Life on Rasonque

Barbara Andes, of Fullerton, California, was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in 2025. After almost a year of chemotherapy, she started Rasonque (daraxonrasib), a once-daily pill, through an expanded access program. In a video interview with CURE, she described how her daily life changed after the switch.

For Andes, the hardest part of chemotherapy was not being able to stay active.

“The fatigue from chemotherapy for me really knocked my energy,” she said.

She spent much of her time in her apartment. She stopped going out to dinner and saw few people other than her closest family, mainly her children. Nausea was also a problem, and food did not taste good.

Andes said the diagnosis did not weigh on her mentally. She kept a sense of joy about being alive and being present, and she did not let her cancer define her.

“I never was depressed. I never am depressed,” she said. “That’s just not part of my makeup.”

Since starting Rasonque, Andes said she has more energy and a much better quality of life.

“It’s given me all that time back,” she said.

She takes two light blue 150-milligram pills once a day, at about the same time each day. After that, she said, she is free to go about her day.

Andes said she does not let a day go by without getting up, getting dressed and putting on her makeup. She walks in the mornings as often as she can. She sees friends at her retirement community, talks with her children and stays involved with her church.

“That’s what’s come back to me,” she said. “It’s being active. It’s being involved. It’s being able to go and see my grandchildren.”

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