Why a Patient With Pancreatic Cancer Moved From Chemotherapy to Rasonque

Barbara Andes, of Fullerton, California, was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in 2025 after the cancer had spread to her liver. After almost a year of chemotherapy at City of Hope Orange County, she began Rasonque (daraxonrasib), a once-daily pill, through an expanded access program. These programs allow certain patients to receive a drug before it is approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

In an interview with CURE, Andes described how her daily life changed after moving from chemotherapy to Rasonque, how she and her care team manage side effects and her view on clinical trials.

This transcript has been edited for length and clarity.

How does a patient with stage 4 pancreatic cancer stay connected to family and community?

Andes: I’m living in a lovely retirement community in Fullerton, and it’s about five minutes from where I lived for almost 60 years. My husband and I moved to Fullerton in 1966. We had four children, and they all still live in Orange County, which is very fortunate for me. From those four children, I have 10 grandchildren, and from the 10 grandchildren, I have 13 great-grandchildren. Last year, my daughter hosted Thanksgiving dinner, and there were 38 of us there.

My goal this year has been to visit every one of my grandchildren’s homes to see where they live and how they spend their time. My last trip was to Texas, where my granddaughter is a professor of English at the University of Texas at Arlington. Going to different doctors and my visits to City of Hope take up quite a bit of my time. But I love to read, and I’m involved in my church and a couple of organizations in town. I’m surrounded by a lot of activity.

How was the stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosed?

I believe it was July of 2025. I started noticing some changes in my digestive tract, and I watched for a couple of weeks, and it remained. So I called my internist, and he started some testing: different scans, MRIs and blood work. He sent me to a gastroenterologist here in Fullerton, and when the gastroenterologist walked in the room, he said, “You have pancreatic cancer.” That was the first diagnosis I had received from anyone.

I wanted to go to City of Hope. My daughter, who is a physician, called one of her colleagues at City of Hope, and he made the contact with Dr. Pashtoon Kasi. I started seeing him in late August, perhaps mid-September of 2025, and that was the definitive diagnosis that it was stage 4 pancreatic cancer.

Along with that came a diagnosis of diabetes. It’s [type 3c] diabetes, so it’s specific to my pancreatic cancer. I’m not on insulin, but I wear a sensor and watch my diet very carefully.

Why was Whipple surgery canceled after pancreatic cancer spread to the liver?

Dr. Kasi and I discussed the Whipple surgery, and I was sent to Duarte to talk to Dr. Laleh Melstrom, a surgeon. Surgery was scheduled, and on the day of surgery, she did a laparoscopic procedure first and discovered that the cancer had already metastasized to my liver. That canceled the Whipple surgery. I went back to City of Hope in Irvine, and Dr. Kasi started the regimen of chemotherapy, which I was on for a little less than a full year.

All along the way, he was talking to me and my daughter about a drug, [Rasonque], that was in clinical studies and had not been approved by the FDA yet. He said when it became available, it would be a good one for me because I had all the markers needed for the expanded access program. I was able to start [Rasonque] in the expanded access program in late July, and it was approved a couple months later by the FDA.

How did chemotherapy for pancreatic cancer affect daily life?

I lost about a week and a half or two weeks every time I had chemotherapy, which was every two weeks. The hardest part was not being active. The fatigue really knocked my energy. I spent a lot of time in my own apartment, not going to dinners and not seeing many people except my closest family, primarily my children. Food did not taste good.

It was kind of difficult mentally. I still had a spirit of joy of being alive, being present and not letting the diagnosis define me in any way. I was never depressed. That’s not part of my makeup.

What does a daily routine on Rasonque look like for a patient with pancreatic cancer?

I take it at approximately the same time every day. It’s two pills, 150 milligrams each, once a day, and then I am free to go about my day. I don’t let a day go by that I don’t get up, get dressed and put my makeup on. I take a walk in the mornings as often as I can. I see friends here at my retirement community, and I’m engaged with my church. In fact, I’m planning the decorations for Christmas with the committee that will come and help hang the greens the day after Thanksgiving.

Before I went to Texas, I went back to back to Delaware and Philadelphia to see a grandson. This coming week, I’m going to Yosemite with a daughter and her husband. Those things have been returned to me because of [Rasonque]. It’s given me energy and a better quality of life.

What side effects can Rasonque cause, and how are they managed?

Mine have been minor. I was sent to see a dermatology provider because of some sores in my mouth, and she has provided medications that are helping. She said a rash is a known side effect. Mine is mild. From day one, Dr. Kasi and his team provided medicated creams to use on my face and my body, and I think that’s helped.

With the mouth and lip sores, I’ve discovered if I eat something that has acid or is spicy, it acts up. So I’m careful to keep my diet more on the bland side. The way I think about it is that they’re annoyances. It’s nothing that’s stopping me from doing anything.

What do recent scans show for a patient with pancreatic cancer on Rasonque?

My cancer marker started out well over 10,000, and the lowest I have been was 106. I’ve had a PET scan, CT scan and MRI. I do have a couple of additional spots on my liver, which is expected, and I’m going to start treatment on that in a couple weeks with targeted MRI.

Many people have referred to cancer as a journey, and I agree with that, because you never know what road you’re going to be on, where you’re going to end up or what the stops are along that journey.

How does faith shape the outlook of a patient with pancreatic cancer?

Number one, I think it’s my faith. Number two, I believe it’s the way I was raised. My parents were positive, happy people. I was married for 65 years before my husband passed away, and we raised our children together cooperatively.

There’s a scripture in Romans that says, “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.” If anything is guiding me now, it’s that scripture, because it identifies who and what I am and what I’m going through. I’ve had it mounted on my bathroom mirror for a couple of months now.

Why should patients with cancer consider clinical trials?

If the opportunity came, I would say to take a positive attitude toward it and join if you can, because you’re not only potentially helping your own situation, but you are potentially helping hundreds and maybe thousands of other people. My husband, daughter, son-in-law and grandson are all physicians, plus I have a few nurses in my family, so I’ve been raised in that environment where we think about the benefits for others.

Obviously, it has to be a decision each person makes based on the information and the outcomes. Be aware of anything that might be adverse, but think about it in the broader spectrum. I’m so grateful to the people who signed on to the clinical study. Think about what they did for me and for thousands of others.

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