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Pancreatic cancer is one of the most dire diagnoses in medicine. There are few available treatments, and they do little to help. For decades, experimental drugs flopped in trials. Many researchers believed the biological obstacles could not be surmounted. In what seems the blink of an eye, all that has changed. A drug nearing regulatory approval, daraxonrasib, is the first to substantially extend the lives of patients with pancreatic cancer. It works by targeting a cellular protein that fuels not just nearly all pancreatic tumors, but also many lung and colon cancers. Those three are the leading causes of cancer deaths. (Kolata and Robbins, 5/12)

Despite improvements in survival, the incidence of stage IV breast cancer increased significantly from 2010 through 2021, according to a U.S. population-based cohort study. (Bassett, 5/12)

Use of GLP-1 receptor agonists in breast cancer patients was linked to lower mortality and recurrence risk in a retrospective study, but experts are questioning the quality of the underlying data. (Bassett, 5/12)

Prescriptions for ivermectin and another antiparasitic drug among cancer patients shot up after actor Mel Gibson discussed an unproven treatment on Joe Rogan's popular podcast, according to a study published today in JAMA Network Open. Researchers say these findings raise concerns about the potency of celebrity endorsement, which can encourage people with life-threatening illnesses to delay or forgo conventional care that's been confirmed to work in favor of unproven and arguably risky treatments. (Boden, 5/12)

Â鶹ŮÓÅ Health News: Listen To The Latest 'Â鶹ŮÓÅ Health News Minute'

Zach Dyer reads the week’s news: Millions of cancer survivors battle mounting medical bills, and Nebraska becomes the first state to enforce a Medicaid work requirement under the GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act. (Cook, 5/12)