Piedmont Begins Offering Rasonque for Pancreatic Cancer
The FDA-approved daily pill, which chokes off tumor growth, is now being administered at the John B. Amos Cancer Center in Columbus.
Updated on Nov. 2, 2026 in Cancer
The FDA approved Rasonque, a daily pill that chokes off tumor growth, in August, and Piedmont Oncology providers have begun administering it at the John B. Amos Cancer Center in Columbus, Ga. More than two dozen patients are the first to receive the drug there.
Why it matters
Pancreatic cancer carries a grim prognosis, with a five-year survival rate of about three percent for stage 4 disease, and standard first-line chemotherapy offers modest benefit alongside significant side effects. Access to a newly approved oral option gives local patients an alternative treatment pathway.
In the clinical trial, average survival with Rasonque was roughly 13 months, compared with less than seven months on standard therapy, for patients with a disease whose five-year survival rate at stage 4 is about three percent. The extraction does not specify how durable these survival gains are beyond the trial period.
The players
Piedmont Oncology
The Georgia oncology provider whose clinicians are among the first community oncologists in the state to administer Rasonque.
Ted Metcalfe
A Columbus, Ga., patient with pancreatic cancer who was started on Rasonque after chemotherapy led to an emergency department visit.
The details
Patient Ted Metcalfe of Columbus, Ga., was started on two Rasonque pills daily after chemotherapy sent him to the emergency department. Patients can fill prescriptions at Regional Hope Pharmacy on the lobby level of the John B. Amos Cancer Center, the only Piedmont facility to compound the drug.
Timeline
February 2025: Patient Ted Metcalfe began experiencing severe side pain.
August 2026: FDA approved Rasonque for pancreatic cancer.
November 2, 2026: Article published about Rasonque administration in Georgia.
Treatment Landscape
The August 2026 FDA approval of Rasonque adds an oral option to a pancreatic cancer treatment landscape historically dominated by aggressive chemotherapy with modest benefit. Its arrival in community practice in Georgia marks the drug moving from approval into everyday clinical use.
Patients who qualify may be able to fill Rasonque prescriptions at Regional Hope Pharmacy on the lobby level of the John B. Amos Cancer Center. Rasonque is covered by commercial insurances, and patients may apply for grants to reduce out-of-pocket costs.
The takeaway
For patients facing pancreatic cancer in the Columbus area, the arrival of Rasonque at a local cancer center means an oral treatment option may now be discussed with a community oncologist. Patients should ask their care team whether the drug fits their situation and whether grant or insurance support is available.
Further reading
For more on treatment options, see Cancer coverage on Wisevoter.
Source note: This article includes information reported by Now Georgia.
