Pancreatic cancer treatment is complex and often involves a combination of chemotherapy, surgery, and a demanding recovery. At the Hirshberg Foundation’s 20th Annual Symposium, Barbara Jagels, RN, MHA, CPHQ, Executive Director of Cancer Services at UCLA Health, shared practical, compassionate guidance to help patients and caregivers prepare for treatment and navigate recovery with greater confidence.

Her message was: the road through treatment can be challenging, but the right preparation, support, and expectations make a meaningful difference. Below we share the tools to help you or your loved one prepare.

Build Your Treatment Plan and Care Team

Every patient’s journey begins with a personalized treatment plan, that may include surgery, systemic therapy (such as chemotherapy), or both. The team that surrounds and supports the patient is just as important as the clinical plan.

Jagels emphasized the need to build a strong support system of family, friends, and caregivers alongside your medical team. Patients are encouraged to connect early with care coordinators, nutritionists, and physical therapists who play a vital role in both preparation and recovery.

Nutrition: A Cornerstone of Recovery

One of the most critical – and often underestimated – aspects of pancreatic cancer recovery is nutrition.

The pancreas plays a key role in digestion by producing digestive enzymes and secreting hormones that regulate blood sugar levels. Surgery can significantly affect how the pancreas functions, leading to Type 3c diabetes and altering how the body processes food, especially fats. Jagels recommends:

• Eating small, frequent meals (5–6 per day)
• Prioritizing high-protein foods to support healing
• Introducing healthy fats gradually while avoiding greasy foods early on
• Staying hydrated, even when appetite is low

Some patients may require pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy (PERT), such as Creon, to help with digestion.

Patients and caregivers should also watch for warning signs such as unexpected weight loss, oily stools, or loss of appetite, which may signal the need to adjust supplements or indicate malabsorption.

Manage Blood Sugar and Pain

The pancreas regulates insulin and treatment can affect blood sugar levels. Some patients may develop temporary or permanent diabetes following surgery. Monitoring glucose levels and following a balanced diet low in simple sugars are essential.

Pain management is another key component of recovery that requires a proactive, thoughtful approach. Rather than waiting for the pain to escalate, be sure to stay ahead of pain by taking medications as prescribed. As recovery progresses, many patients are able to gradually transition from opioid to non-opioid options.

Equally important is managing the side effects that often come with pain medication. Constipation is one of the most common challenges, particularly with opioid use. Increased fluids, incorporating fiber when appropriate, and using stool softeners if recommended can help prevent discomfort and complications. Short walks and gentle movement can also improve circulation and “get things moving.”

Ultimately, effective pain management is about balance, relieving discomfort while supporting the body’s natural healing process. Open communication with the care team is essential. With the right plan in place, pain can be controlled so patients can focus more fully on recovery and regaining strength.

Support Digestive Healing

Healing takes time, especially for the digestive system. In the weeks after surgery, patients may experience bloating, diarrhea, or delayed stomach emptying. These symptoms can be discouraging, but they’re a normal part of the digestive system relearning how to work.

Helpful strategies include:

• Eating slowly and chewing thoroughly
• Adjusting fiber intake if bloating occurs
• Avoiding alcohol during recovery

These small, consistent habits can help ease discomfort and support gradual healing. If symptoms persist or worsen, don’t hesitate to call your care team. Adjustments are common as you and your body learn to navigate your new digestive tract.

The Emotional Side of Recovery

Recovery is not just physical, it’s emotional, too. Fatigue, mood changes, and stress are common. Feeling frustrated, anxious, or even grieving the life you had before surgery is normal, and part of healing.

Jagels encourages patients to actively use their support systems, whether through caregivers, counseling, or support groups. Engaging with others who understand the journey can improve emotional well-being and overall outcomes.

What to Expect: Week-by-Week Recovery

Understanding the typical recovery timeline can help patients feel more prepared and reassured about what’s common:

While these milestones provide guidance, Jagels reminds patients that recovery is not linear and that setbacks are normal.

What Patients Often Underestimate

There are a few things about recovery that are easy to underestimate going in:

Recognizing these realities early can help set more realistic expectations and reduce frustration. Pancreatic surgery recovery is genuinely hard, and giving yourself permission to find it difficult is part of getting through it.

Move Forward with Confidence

Recovery is challenging, but it is manageable with the right tools and support. By prioritizing nutrition, staying active at a gradual pace, managing symptoms proactively, and relying on a strong support system, patients can navigate treatment more effectively and move toward healing with greater resilience.

The Whipple procedure, also called pancreaticoduodenectomy, is a major operation used to treat pancreatic cancer. The surgery involves removing parts of the pancreas in an area of the digestive system where multiple organs connect, and it often requires reconnecting the digestive tract. Recovery from this surgery is a gradual process that requires patience, support, and realistic expectations. It’s normal to feel overwhelmed in the early weeks post-surgery, and many patients say that having a general sense of “what’s normal” helped them worry less about every new sensation. While every patient’s experience is unique, understanding a general timeline can help reduce uncertainty and make the path forward feel more manageable.

At the Hirshberg Symposium on Pancreatic Cancer, Barbara Jagels, RN, MHA, CPHQ of UCLA Health outlined what many patients can expect in the first month after surgery, and how to navigate each phase.

Week 1: Regain Independence

The first week after surgery focuses on stabilization and the return to basic independence.

Patients work toward:

• Walking short distances multiple times a day (5 minutes of walking is great!)
• Transitioning to a soft diet
• Managing pain with oral medications
• Restoring bowel function

Before leaving the hospital, care teams ensure that patients can eat small meals, move safely, and show no signs of complications such as infection. It’s common to feel discouraged by how much help you need right now. That’s expected, not a setback, your body is doing serious repair work.

Week 2: The Most Challenging Phase

Week two is often the hardest and the most important to push through with support. This is when significant fatigue, poor appetite, and digestive discomfort, including bloating or loose stools sets in. It is both physically and mentally difficult.

During this time, the focus shifts to:

• Eating 5–6 small meals per day
• Prioritizing protein at every meal (goal is 20–30 grams of protein, if possible)
• Taking pancreatic enzymes as prescribed
• Walking short distances daily

Progress may feel slow, but these small, consistent efforts are essential to recovery. If this week feels like the hardest thing you’ve done, it’s because it is for many patients. Lean on the people around you.

Week 3: A Turning Point

For many patients, week three marks the beginning of noticeable improvement. This is often the first week when recovery starts to feel like forward motion, rather than just something you’re enduring.

You may start to see:

• Gradual return of appetite
• Increased energy levels
• Ability to walk longer distances
• Engagement in light daily tasks

This is also a time to adjust nutrition strategies. If weight loss continues, it is important to increase calories or fine-tune enzyme use.

Week 4: Rebuild Your Routine

By week four, many patients begin to feel more like themselves, though recovery is still ongoing.

This is the time to:

• Continue small, frequent meals with more variety
• Gradually resume normal daily activities
• Stamina may increase, but with continued need for rest

Some patients may be able to drive again if they are no longer taking narcotic pain medications.

What Recovery Really Looks Like

Progress may feel uneven, but each step forward matters. If something feels off, don’t ignore it. Reach out to your support team to discuss the options. Your recovery timeline is the one that is right for you.

Moving Forward

The first month after pancreatic surgery is just the beginning of recovery. With a focus on nutrition, gradual activity, and ongoing support, patients can continue to build strength over time.

Understanding what to expect, and giving yourself grace along the way, can make a meaningful difference in both physical and emotional healing.

Today daraxonrasib, an oral RAS(ON) multi-selective inhibitor from Revolution Medicines, was approved by the FDA for use by patients with previously treated metastatic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) or for patients who are “not candidates for multiagent systemic therapy.” This approval was supported by the remarkable results from the Phase 3 clinical trial, RASolute 302, that demonstrated an unprecedented increase in overall survival (OS), increases in progression-free survival (PFS), and a differentiated safety profile compared with standard of care chemotherapy. This also is the first RAS inhibitor to be approved by the FDA for cancer therapy and will be sold under the name Rasonque.

This approval comes just over 1 month after Revolution Medicine’s New Drug Application (NDA) for daraxonrasib was accepted for review by the FDA, on July 22, 2026, capping off daraxonrasib’s whirlwind clinical development.

The initial first-in-human Phase 1/2 clinical trial, RMC-6236-001, started in June 2022 in patients with advanced solid tumors harboring RAS mutations. A phase 3 trial for previously treated metastatic PDAC patients, RASolute 302, began just over 2 years later in October 2024 based on the clear benefit and safety outcomes in the PDAC patients from that original trial.

On June 23, 2025, the FDA granted daraxonrasib Breakthrough Therapy Designation for treating patients with metastatic PDAC based on the promising results from the RMC-6236-001 trial. This designation allows the acceleration of the development and subsequent review of new therapies that treat diseases that have significant unmet needs. Daraxonrasib was awarded this designation, because of the early clinical evidence that demonstrated improvement in metastatic PDAC over other currently available therapies.

Additionally, on October 16, 2025, Revolution Medicines was awarded one of the first vouchers under FDA Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher Pilot Program for daraxonrasib. This program’s goal is to accelerate the development and subsequent review of therapies aligned with US health priorities with the goal of enhancing Americans’ health interests. This program allows approval data to be reviewed on a rolling basis as available, potentially cutting down FDA review of NDAs from 10-12 months to as quick as 30-90 days.

These events culminated in the announcement in April 2026 of the completion of the phase 3 RASolute 302 clinical trial touting unprecedented doubling of median overall survival over standard of care chemotherapies. Initial data was submitted to the FDA on April 28th, 2026 for approval for an Expanded Access Program (EAP) to provide daraxonrasib to previously treated, metastatic PDAC patients outside of a clinical trial setting and was granted by the FDA on May 1, 2026. Through the EAP Revolution Medicines has been able to supply more than 2,000 additional patients with daraxonrasib over the last 3 months.

The full data set was presented to a standing ovation on May 31, 2026 at the American Society for Clinical Oncologists Annual Meeting and concurrently published in the New England Journal of Medicine leading up to the accepted submission of the NDA on July 22, 2026.

While an approval of daraxonrasib for previously treated metastatic PDAC is exciting news, there are newly launched phase 3 clinical trials evaluating daraxonrasib in other PDAC patient populations; RASolute 303 (NCT07491445) in previously untreated patients with metastatic PDAC alone or in combination with chemotherapy and RASolute 304 (NCT07252232) in patients with resected PDAC following adjuvant chemotherapy treatment. Additionally, there are early-stage clinical trials evaluating the use of daraxonrasib with other targeted therapies including mutant specific RAS inhibitors. The results from these trials have the potential to expand approvals for daraxonrasib to more patient populations allowing many more patients to benefit from this emerging and potentially transformational therapy.