A once-daily pill is bringing fresh hope to people with advanced pancreatic cancer after a major international trial found it nearly doubled average survival time.

The treatment, called daraxonrasib, is being welcomed by specialists as a potentially major step forward for a cancer that has long been among the hardest to treat. Pancreatic cancer has the highest mortality rate of all major cancers and is often diagnosed only after it has reached an advanced stage.

Daraxonrasib works by targeting the mutated KRAS gene, which is found in more than 90% of pancreatic tumours and helps drive cancer growth. By locking onto the gene and switching it off, the drug can help slow the spread of the disease.

In a trial involving 500 patients across North America, Europe and Asia, people who received chemotherapy lived for an average of 6.6 months. Those who took daraxonrasib lived for an average of 13.2 months.

The findings were presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology in Chicago. The study included 248 patients who were given daraxonrasib and 252 who received chemotherapy. Most of the patients had tumours with specific KRAS gene mutations.

Alongside the longer survival time, the pill also appeared to be easier for many patients to tolerate. Severe side-effects were reported in 43.6% of patients taking daraxonrasib, compared with 57.5% of those receiving chemotherapy.

"These results are landscape-changing for metastatic pancreatic cancer patients with a KRAS mutation," said Rachna Shroff, chief of the division of haematology/oncology at the University of Arizona Cancer Centre.

The development is especially meaningful because pancreatic cancer is often difficult to detect early. Symptoms may not appear in the initial stages and can resemble those of other conditions. They can include jaundice, itchy skin, darker pee, paler poo, unexplained weight loss, tiredness and a high temperature.

In Britain, around 11,500 people are diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year, and about 10,200 die from the disease, according to Cancer Research UK. More than half of people diagnosed with pancreatic cancer die within three months. Actor Alan Rickman died from the disease in 2016, five months after diagnosis.

For charities and patient advocates, the trial offers a welcome sense of progress. Anna Jewell, director of services, research and innovation at Pancreatic Cancer UK, described the treatments as "some of the most exciting developments we have seen in pancreatic cancer for a very long time".

She added: "More time with those we love most is truly priceless. We must do everything possible to ensure the most promising new treatments are available here in the UK."