Harshi Peiris, Ph.D.

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[Harshi Peiris, Ph.D. @Neuroscope_mp]

🚨 BREAKING
For 40 years, pancreatic cancer's deadliest gene, KRAS, was called "undruggable."

A pill just nearly DOUBLED survival in a Phase 3 trial.
The method used is so cool!

ASCO 2026 may have just changed cancer history. 🧵

#ASCO2026 #PancreaticCancer #CancerResearch

[Harshi Peiris, Ph.D. @Neuroscope_mp]

@KathieJChiu Welcome 😊💖
Explore and find your world. Include me in it, and I will drop everything I learned over the past few months.

[Harshi Peiris, Ph.D. @Neuroscope_mp]

One of the biggest stories from ASCO 2026, an oral pill nearly doubled survival in metastatic pancreatic cancer by targeting the “undruggable” KRAS.

Full visual thread with all the key data
#ASCO2026 #PancreaticCancer #KRAS

[Harshi Peiris, Ph.D. @Neuroscope_mp]

🚨 BREAKING
For 40 years, pancreatic cancer's deadliest gene, KRAS, was called "undruggable."

A pill just nearly DOUBLED survival in a Phase 3 trial.
The method used is so cool!

ASCO 2026 may have just changed cancer history. 🧵

#ASCO2026 #PancreaticCancer #CancerResearch

[Harshi Peiris, Ph.D. @Neuroscope_mp]

@WaterRabbitt Right!!
The terms healthspan vs lifespan materialized at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging. My postdoc advisor, Dr. Gordon Lithgow, was one of the pioneers of those key terms.

[Harshi Peiris, Ph.D. @Neuroscope_mp]

🚨 BREAKING: A personalized cancer vaccine just delivered its strongest results yet.

After 5 years, melanoma patients had a 49% lower risk of cancer returning or causing death.

Now doctors are testing it on lung cancer, kidney cancer, and more.
Thread 👇
#ASCO2026 #Melanoma #MedTwitter #CancerVaccine

[Harshi Peiris, Ph.D. @Neuroscope_mp]

Yup 100%The
Aging Hallmarks article is also a great read. And points to what you said.
Aging, as a concept, is not one-size-fits-all. I worked as a postdoc at Buck Institute for Research on Aging for 6 years. I went bright-eyed, ready to find answers to aging ... came out with the realism ... nothing is one size fits all, and therefore, there will never be a universal answer or cure to anything. 😂

[Harshi Peiris, Ph.D. @Neuroscope_mp]

@WaterRabbitt If you like, take a look at this article.
These are some of the precision medicine approaches we are utilizing right now.
Once they have been optimized, we do not need anti-aging companies. We can do so much to improve our health and quality of life.
https://t.co/Jg74MblQoI

[Harshi Peiris, Ph.D. @Neuroscope_mp]

https://t.co/XBOUGx9MBG

[Harshi Peiris, Ph.D. @Neuroscope_mp]

Haha, I like the image 😀 ... Many birthdays are great ... but Many birthdays we can live healthy. I wrote an article about healthspan vs lifespan and my argument for healthspan over lifespan.

And yes ... I checked the pipeline, and this is explored across multiple cancer types ...not just in the USA, but in other countries too.
But the first approach to this came 30 years ago in the USA at the University of Pennsylvania.

[Harshi Peiris, Ph.D. @Neuroscope_mp]

I think you hit the nail on the head ... how do we keep this working?
I worked at Rev med before I moved out of state.
My two cents ...
The biggest issue will be cancer heterogeneity. KRAS drives numerous mutations downstream. Which mutation ... will be highly individualized ... requiring precision multi-drug approaches in the future (though that drives toxicity) ... or an immunotherapy method will be needed.

The drug works when it's at an earlier stage and mostly controlled ... not highly metastatic. So there is a window of opportunity, and early detection is key.
Biomarkers for early detection will be key.

I worked on both while at Rev Med.
I am sure it's still a continuous conversation.

[Harshi Peiris, Ph.D. @Neuroscope_mp]

🚨 BREAKING
For 40 years, pancreatic cancer's deadliest gene, KRAS, was called "undruggable."

A pill just nearly DOUBLED survival in a Phase 3 trial.
The method used is so cool!

ASCO 2026 may have just changed cancer history. 🧵

#ASCO2026 #PancreaticCancer #CancerResearch

[Harshi Peiris, Ph.D. @Neuroscope_mp]

This is true ... similar to Colon.
I worked at Rev Med before I moved out of state. The drug targets only KRAS (this one does target Pan RAS).
There are two main problems (and countless others)
1. As you stated, the detection problem ... finds it too late and the cancer has spread.
To address this issue, we were exploring biomarkers for early detection and subtyping people for precision medicine.

2. Cancer heterogeneity ... KRAS is notorious for this. It creates many mutations downstream. This creates a very heterogeneous and variable environment around the KRAS mutation. An optimal scenario would be multiple drug approaches. But more drugs mean more toxicity.
So letting a KRAS mutation cook inside is a bad idea for both of the above reasons.

Early detection is key.

[Harshi Peiris, Ph.D. @Neuroscope_mp]

I worked at Rev med before moving out of state.
So this story is close to me.

But I do agree Anktiva/CART has huge potential (I have worked on CART).

However, they are both targeting precision medicine.
Pancreatic cancer is not one size fits all.
They had a Pan RAS drug that targets single mutations.
KRAS is notorious for heterogeneity, and this drug will not work for that. That requires a more combined therapy, which I also worked on.

Anktiva takes the patient's tissue samples and creates individualized treatment options. It's literally an individualized vaccine. So the target is more specific, and the treatment is created for each individual patient separately. So this is more targeted and more precise.

What will be optimal is a combined therapy, but precision-based options for all these cancers.
We have the technology ... now is the time to teach the medical doctors about precision medicine and choices.

[Harshi Peiris, Ph.D. @Neuroscope_mp]

Thanks for sharing ... the skin peeling/bleeding side effects are important real-world details.

The trial showed better overall tolerability than chemo, but individual experiences vary. More data coming from the ongoing trials.

I also worked at Rev Med ... so this field is my forte. This drug is in the pipeline for Colon and Lung cancer as well. That's what I worked on.

[Harshi Peiris, Ph.D. @Neuroscope_mp]

@Neuromics Glad it was helpful!

This is one of the most exciting results from ASCO 2026. Close to me because I worked at Rev Med before moving to another state.
More ASCO threads coming this week

[Harshi Peiris, Ph.D. @Neuroscope_mp]

ASCO's Chief Medical Officer called this result a 'grand slam.'
The auditorium gave a standing ovation.

After 40 years and thousands of failed attempts, a pill is winning against one of oncology's hardest targets.

Follow for more ASCO 2026 science threads
🔬 RT to share the science. 🙏
#ASCO2026 #PancreaticCancer #CancerResearch

[Harshi Peiris, Ph.D. @Neuroscope_mp]

This matters beyond pancreatic cancer.
KRAS mutations drive:
→ ~25% of all lung cancers
→ ~40% of colon cancers
→ ~90% of pancreatic cancers

Daraxonrasib is already in 3 other Phase 3 trials for these cancers.

If it works there, too, this drug could reshape oncology.

#KRAS #LungCancer #ColonCancer

[Harshi Peiris, Ph.D. @Neuroscope_mp]

Where does Daraxonrasib

stand RIGHT NOW?
🏥 FDA granted: Breakthrough Therapy + Orphan Drug designation
🏥 Expanded access program already OPEN (ask your oncologist)
🏥 Priority FDA review filing underway — could be approved in ~6 months

📍 It's not approved yet.
But it's moving fast.

#Oncology #CancerResearch

[Harshi Peiris, Ph.D. @Neuroscope_mp]

Here's what makes Daraxonrasib special beyond the numbers:
✅ Works regardless of WHICH KRAS mutation a patient has
✅ Works even if no KRAS mutation is found
✅ No complex genetic screening needed before prescribing

This is rare.
Most targeted drugs only work for one mutation subtype.
#KRAS #PrecisionMedicine

[Harshi Peiris, Ph.D. @Neuroscope_mp]

That changed in 2013 when scientists discovered a hidden pocket in KRAS.
Then Revolution Medicines engineered daraxonrasib — a molecular glue that locks KRAS in its OFF position.
One pill.
Once a day.
Oral.

Now we have Phase 3 data. 👇
#PrecisionMedicine #RASinhibitor

[Harshi Peiris, Ph.D. @Neuroscope_mp]

First, the villain.

🧬 ~90% of pancreatic cancers carry a KRAS mutation — a switch stuck in the "ON" position, telling cells to grow forever.

Scientists tried to block it for 4 decades.

KRAS had no pockets to grab. No drug could stick. It was "undruggable."

#KRAS #Oncology