KRAS-targeted therapy and the future of pancreatic cancer treatment

Jennifer Valerin, MD, PhD, a UCI Health medical oncologist and pancreatic cancer specialist, joins Physician Huddle to discuss breakthrough treatments in the landscape of pancreatic cancer care.

Valerin shares how a family member's pancreatic cancer diagnosis more than 20 years ago shaped her decision to pursue medicine and focus her career on bringing new therapies to patients with pancreatic cancer. She also discusses her MD-PhD training path, her work in hereditary pancreatic cancer, and how clinical questions from patient care can inform research from bench to bedside and back.

The conversation explores why pancreatic cancer is often diagnosed late, including nonspecific symptoms such as weight loss and back pain, the role of imaging and endoscopic ultrasound-guided biopsy, and why the disease has historically been so difficult to treat.

Valerin also explains the significance of KRAS in pancreatic cancer and how emerging KRAS-targeted therapies — including daraxonrasib — may represent a major step forward for patients who previously had limited options. She discusses the importance of clinical trials, side effect management, multidisciplinary care and UCI Health leadership as a pancreatic cancer referral center in Southern California.

The episode closes with a discussion of cautious optimism on how oncologists can balance realism with hope and how treatment goals can be individualized around patient milestones.

Topics discussed: 

• Valerin’s career in pancreatic cancer was shaped by a deeply personal experience caring for her aunt through diagnosis and treatment. 
• Pancreatic cancer can be difficult to detect because symptoms are often nonspecific, including unexplained weight loss and back pain. 
• Tissue diagnosis remains essential, but ctDNA and mutation profiling can help inform molecular understanding and treatment planning. 
• KRAS has long been a major driver in pancreatic cancer and was historically considered difficult to target. 
• Emerging KRAS-directed therapies are creating new possibilities for patients with pancreatic cancer, particularly through clinical trials. 
• Side effect management is central to helping patients remain on therapy, including close collaboration with dermatology for rash associated with KRAS inhibitors. 
• The UCI Health pancreatic cancer program is positioned around multidisciplinary care, clinical trials, nutrition, psycho-oncology, surgery, interventional radiology, and close collaboration with community oncologists.

Connect with UCI Health physicians online at clinicalconnection.ucihealth.org, on LinkedIn @UCI Health Physicians, on Instagram @ucihealthphysicians, or at @uciphysicians on X.

Refer a patient at referralportal.ucihealth.org and learn more about ongoing clinical trials at ucihealth.org/clinical-trials.