Symptoms of pancreatic cancer as man explains life with 'definite death sentence'

Ben Sasse has racked up more life achievements than many of us can hope for, starting his adult life as an Ivy League scholar from humble beginnings before ascending to the top of American politics to become a Senator for Nebraska.

But tragically, 54-year-old Sasse has been handed a 'definite death sentence'. The dad-of-three revealed in December that he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer and had just months to live.

This form of cancer affecting the large organ found behind your stomach that helps with digestion and regulating blood sugar is understood to be one of the deadliest cancers, with the difficulty of its detection and treatment giving patients just a 10 percent chance of surviving for five years or more.

In a brave conversation with the New York Times, the former senator, who represented Nebraska from 2014 to 2023, shared how he had started on an experimental treatment course for his cancer, one that has left him bleeding 'out of a bunch of parts' of his body.

Ben Sasse was a Republican Senator for Nebraska until he stepped down in 2023 (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The former lawmaker shared how, in December, doctors had done a full body scan and found that his torso was 'chock full of tumors' and had given him just three to four months to live.

But after embarking on an experimental treatment course that left his skin 'bubbling', Sasse has said: "I’m at Day 99 or something since then, and I’m doing a heck of a lot better than I was doing at Christmas."

This targeted drug treatment, called daraxonrasib, is designed to slow the development of pancreatic cancer by preventing the development of mutant proteins that cause the disease to progress.

However, its impact on his body has been extreme. “I take it orally, but it’s a nasty drug,” he said in the sit-down interview that revealed the scale of daraxonrasib's impact on his appearance. “It causes crazy stuff like my body can’t grow skin and so I bleed all out of a whole bunch of parts of me that shouldn’t be bleeding.”

This has left Sasse's face feeling 'nuclear', with burst blood vessels and dry skin developing as the drug attempts to slow his Stage 4 disease. Even his pharmacist was shocked, asking if he had been electrocuted.

Ben Sasse's pancreatic cancer treatment left his face cracked and bloody (Ben Sasse/X)

“I don’t even know what that is, but either acid or electric shocks produce a face that looks this hideous,” he told the Times. But while the treatment has its downsides, Sasse said it had managed to shrink the tumors which were pressing on his spine, causing intense pain.

Now, the growths in his torso have shrunk by 76 percent. But while this is good news for his short to medium term, the former senator explained that, due to the difficulty of spotting the cancer, it was too late for his doctors to get them all before they spread further.

But there are some common signs to look out for that are symptomatic of pancreatic cancer.

Most common pancreatic cancer symptoms

Pancreatic cancer is among the hardest type of this disease to diagnose early, when it is most curable. But some symptoms can present before the cancer spreads to other parts of the body.

If you are experiencing any of the following symptoms identified by the Mayo Clinic, you should speak to your physician about your concerns and ask for follow-up tests.

• Jaundice
• Itching
• Lower back pain
• Abdominal pain that spreads to the side and back
• Oily, floating, or light colored stools
• Fatigue
• Dark urine
• Pain in an arm or leg caused by a blood clot
• New diabetes diagnosis, or worsening of condition

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