Dr M Devalingam, who heads the study at Northwestern University, said the treatment significantly improved outcomes among patients with advanced pancreatic cancer, when most survive less than a year after diagnosis.

The phase two clinical trial found that patients treated with elraglusib and standard chemotherapy were twice as likely to live after one year compared with those receiving chemotherapy alone. The treatment also reduced the risk of death by 38%.

The findings, published in the journal Nature Medicine, mark one of the few significant advances in recent years to demonstrate a meaningful survival benefit for a broad group of pancreatic cancer patients.

“Pancreatic cancer remains one of the most challenging solid tumours to treat, but these findings provide cautious optimism,” Devalingam said.

Devalingam and his team are now pursuing a phase-three trial to validate the findings, raising hopes that the treatment could eventually benefit patients globally.

The trial involved 233 patients across 60 sites in North America and Europe, focussing on those with metastatic pancreatic cancer. Patients receiving elraglusib recorded a median survival of 10.1 months, compared to 7.2 months for those on chemotherapy alone.

Notably, 44% of patients in the treatment group were alive after one year, compared with 22% in the control group, while about 13% survived up to two years – a milestone not observed among those receiving chemotherapy alone.

Researchers said the drug works differently from conventional treatments by targeting the tumour microenvironment and reactivating the body’s immune response against cancer cells.

While side effects such as fatigue and low white blood cell counts were reported, the study found the drug’s safety profile to be manageable.

Pancreatic cancer is currently the third leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the US and remains one of the most difficult cancers to treat.