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Below, week by week, is what OnCo's record of Metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma says about the first two months: the order is typical, the timing is yours to ask about. Metastatic pancreatic cancer has spread beyond the pancreas, usually to the liver, and is treated with chemotherapy rather than surgery. Three combination regimens lengthen life, a minority of patients qualify for targeted drugs chosen by tumour or inherited mutations, and in 2026 the pan-RAS inhibitor daraxonrasib became the first drug against the KRAS mutation that drives almost every case. Sections appear only where the record has something to say. Orientation, not medical advice.
Staging tests establish exactly what and where the cancer is. Everything else follows from the answers.
Ask which of these were tested and what the results were; see the report reader for what each value means.
These specialties appear in the standard of care for this cancer. In most centres they meet weekly as a tumour board to agree each plan; you can ask when yours was discussed and what was decided.
A second opinion from a centre that treats many similar cases is normal, not rude; the standard of care tells you what to compare it against.
Each row is a setting from the standard of care, in the order it usually arises. Not all will apply to you; your stage and biomarkers decide which do. The guideline grade, where recorded, says how strong the evidence is.
Modified FOLFIRINOX or NALIRIFOX (NAPOLI 3); gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel as the alternative, chosen by fitness, biliary drainage and neuropathy.
Gemcitabine plus nab-paclitaxel at reduced dose or gemcitabine alone; best supportive care when chemotherapy would do harm.
First-line daraxonrasib with or without chemotherapy; G12D inhibitors with chemotherapy; KRAS vaccines; claudin 18.2 and mesothelin-directed antibodies and CAR-T; platform trials such as Precision Promise.
Daraxonrasib after first-line chemotherapy (RASolute 302); otherwise switch backbone, liposomal irinotecan with fluorouracil after gemcitabine or a gemcitabine-based regimen after FOLFIRINOX.
Olaparib after at least sixteen weeks of platinum without progression in germline BRCA carriers (POLO); pembrolizumab for mismatch repair deficient tumours; zenocutuzumab for NRG1 fusions; NTRK and BRAF inhibitors where present.
Biliary stenting, pancreatic enzyme replacement, dietetic support, early palliative care, anticoagulation for thrombosis and coeliac plexus block for pain.
Generated from this cancer's standard of care, biomarkers and open problems. Take the group that matches where you are. To tick, add your own and print, open the one-page appointment sheet.
Trials open now for this cancer in OnCo, largest phase first. Joining a trial is a decision like any other: ask what the comparison arm is, whether a placebo is used, and what happens if you leave. The cancer page searches ClinicalTrials.gov live for more.
Much of what helps in the first weeks is free if you know to ask: testing, helplines, rides and lodging, second opinions, trial travel.
Every term links to the glossary.