In a move that will surprise exactly no one who has been paying attention to the grim statistics, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted expedited approval to a groundbreaking new pill for the most common form of pancreatic cancer. The drug, called daraxonrasib, blocks a mutated protein that fuels tumor growth in more than 90% of pancreatic cancer cases - an approach that has eluded drugmakers for decades, presumably because cancer is a stubborn jerk.

The daily pills, sold by Revolution Medicines under the brand name Rasonque, nearly doubled patient survival time in a study of 500 patients with metastatic cancer that had stopped responding to prior treatment. Patients taking the new treatment lived for a median of 13.2 months, compared with 6.7 months for those on chemotherapy. Fewer severe side effects, too - because why not add insult to injury for chemotherapy?

Pancreatic cancer is among the deadliest forms of the disease, largely because it's a sneaky little bastard that's hard to detect before it spreads. The American Cancer Society estimates about 67,000 new cases will be diagnosed in the US this year, with more than 52,000 deaths. The five-year survival rate is a dismal 13%.

The drug gained public attention earlier this year when former US senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska mentioned on CBS's 60 Minutes that he's had less pain while taking it. This surge of interest prompted the FDA to allow 'expanded access' before official approval - because nothing says 'desperate times' like a former senator hawking experimental drugs on TV.

FDA regulators noted they approved the drug more than six months ahead of their target date. 'It is our fundamental duty to deliver more cures and meaningful treatments to patients as quickly as possible,' said acting commissioner Kyle Diamantas, in a statement that probably got a standing ovation from the pharmaceutical industry.

Doctors who treat pancreatic cancer are cautiously optimistic that this approval may usher in more new options, with dozens of experimental drugs in development. Unlike other cancers that have benefited from a variety of chemotherapy alternatives, pancreatic cancer has been notoriously hard to tackle - partly because the mutated proteins involved were long considered 'undruggable'. But Revolution Medicines' drug uses what's essentially a molecular glue to bind with multiple Kras subtypes. The company, based in Redwood City, California, is also studying the technology for other cancers, including lung cancer.

So, progress! Just in time for those 67,000 new patients who are about to be diagnosed. Cheers to science, and to the FDA for occasionally moving faster than a glacier.