Former Senator Ben Sasse Reports ‘Massive’ Tumor Reduction After Experimental Pancreatic Cancer Treatment

Former Senator Ben Sasse Shows Promise with Experimental Cancer Treatment

Months after revealing his stage 4 cancer diagnosis, former U.S. Senator Ben Sasse is experiencing remarkable results from an experimental therapy that could extend his life. The Nebraska Republican, who served from 2015 to 2023, disclosed in December 2025 that he had metastatic pancreatic cancer which had spread to multiple organs including his liver and lungs.

Initially given just three to four months to live, Sasse, 54, enrolled in a clinical trial for daraxonrasib, an oral medication designed to block the defective gene responsible for uncontrolled cellular growth. The treatment appears to be working remarkably well.

“I have much, much less pain than I had four months ago when I was diagnosed, and I have a massive 76% reduction in tumor volume over the last four months,” Sasse told “60 Minutes” in a recent interview.

California-based Revolution Medicines recently shared encouraging data from a phase 3 clinical trial involving patients with metastatic pancreatic cancer who had not responded to standard chemotherapy. Those receiving daraxonrasib lived a median of 13 months, compared to approximately six months for patients who continued with chemotherapy alone.

Dr. Sarbajit Mukherjee, chief of gastrointestinal medical oncology at Miami Cancer Institute, explained the drug’s mechanism: “Daraxonrasib works by going after a key growth ‘switch’ in many cancers called RAS. In pancreatic cancer, that switch is stuck in the ‘on’ position in the vast majority of tumors, constantly telling the cancer cells to grow and spread.”

The drug is designed to bind to RAS in its active state and diminish the signal, slowing or shrinking the cancer. Dr. Mukherjee, who was not involved in the trial or Sasse’s treatment, noted this represents a significant advance in treatment options.

Pancreatic cancer is particularly difficult to diagnose early because symptoms often don’t appear until the disease has already spread. Dr. Marc Siegel, Fox News senior medical analyst, called daraxonrasib “the first-of-its-kind targeted therapy for pancreatic cancer,” noting that the drug is in the final stages of clinical trials.

“From my perspective, as someone who treats pancreatic cancer every day, daraxonrasib is the first targeted pill in this disease that truly feels like a step change rather than a small incremental improvement,” Dr. Mukherjee said. “It opens the door to much more personalized strategies going forward. For a cancer where progress has been painfully slow, it could reshape how we care for patients with advanced disease.”

Current chemotherapy options can shrink pancreatic tumors and extend life, but Dr. Mukherjee describes them as “tough” and notes that once they stop working, “our options are limited and survival is usually measured in just a few more months.”

Early data suggests that combining daraxonrasib with standard chemotherapy as first-line treatment results in greater tumor shrinkage and more patients showing improvement at six months compared to chemotherapy alone. If approved by the FDA, the drug will likely become an important option for patients when standard chemotherapy stops working.

Though described as “well-tolerated” compared to chemotherapy, daraxonrasib still has side effects. “The ones we see most often include rash, diarrhea, mouth sores and fatigue, with patients needing regular blood tests and close follow-up while on treatment,” Dr. Mukherjee explained. In clinical trials, these issues have generally been managed by adjusting doses or adding supportive medications.

Dr. Mukherjee emphasized important limitations: “It is still not yet FDA-approved, and it is not a cure. Over time, most cancers will eventually find ways to grow around the drug.”

Beyond the medical treatment, which he describes as a “miracle” drug, Sasse credits his faith for helping him outlive his original prognosis. “It’s weird to be in your early 50s and get a terminal diagnosis, and people all of a sudden act like you’re 93 or 94, and you have a lot of wisdom,” he reflected. “I don’t know that I have a lot of wisdom, but I have a lot of things that I think we should be reflecting on together.”

The promising results from Sasse’s treatment represent a potential breakthrough in pancreatic cancer care, one of the most aggressive and difficult-to-treat cancers, offering new hope for patients facing similarly grim diagnoses.