Scientific article
Review
OA Policy
English

Actionable mutations in pancreatic cancer : where targeted therapies are making a difference

Published inBMJ open gastroenterology, vol. 12, no. 1, e001925
Publication date2025-11-27
First online date2025-11-27
Abstract

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) remains one of the deadliest solid tumours, with 5-year survival consistently below 10% and only modest gains from conventional chemotherapy after first-line failure. Although oncogenic KRAS mutations dominate the genomic landscape, recent large-scale sequencing has revealed a series of less frequent but therapeutically actionable alterations. This review synthesises evidence from phase I-II trials published through April 2025. It demonstrates that targeting these lesions can yield outcomes that meet or exceed the benchmarks set by the NAPOLI-1 trial (liposomal irinotecan plus 5-fluorouracil and leucovorin), with a median overall survival of 6.2 months and progression-free survival of 3.1 months. Objective response rates reach 33% with adagrasib in KRAS G12C PDAC, 22% with olaparib maintenance in germline BRCA1/2 cancers, and over 50% with RET or NTRK inhibitors with fusion alterations; pembrolizumab produces durable benefit in the 1-3% of tumours that are MSI-H/dMMR. Emerging data highlight NRG1 fusions (overall response rate 42% with zenocutuzumab), HER2 amplification, MTAP deletion with PRMT5 dependency and variant-specific (MRTX1133) or pan-RAS (daraxonrasib) inhibitors as the next frontier. Toxicity profiles of targeted agents are generally favourable and often allow prolonged administration compared with cytotoxic regimens. Taken together, these advances represent a substantive therapeutic progress in PDAC over the past decades, even though they currently apply to a minority of patients. These findings underscore the necessity of comprehensive next-generation sequencing for every patient with advanced disease, enabling identification of rare, yet clinically meaningful, targets and moving PDAC management towards a precision-oncology paradigm.

Keywords
  • Humans
  • Pancreatic Neoplasms / genetics
  • Pancreatic Neoplasms / drug therapy
  • Pancreatic Neoplasms / mortality
  • Molecular Targeted Therapy / methods
  • Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal / genetics
  • Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal / drug therapy
  • Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal / mortality
  • Mutation
  • Antineoplastic Combined Chemotherapy Protocols / therapeutic use
  • Precision Medicine / methods
  • Antibody targeted therapy
  • Gene targeting
  • Mutations
  • Pancreatic cancer
Citation (ISO format)
FIVAZ, Morgan et al. Actionable mutations in pancreatic cancer : where targeted therapies are making a difference. In: BMJ open gastroenterology, 2025, vol. 12, n° 1, p. e001925. doi: 10.1136/bmjgast-2025-001925
Main files (1)
Article (Published version)
Identifiers
Additional URL for this publicationhttps://bmjopengastro.bmj.com/content/12/1/e001925
Journal ISSN2054-4774
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102downloads

Technical informations

Creation27/03/2026 10:54:11
First validation07/04/2026 13:33:38
Update07/04/2026 13:33:38
Status update07/04/2026 13:33:38
Last indexation07/04/2026 13:33:39
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