Less chemo, more life: two new cancer drugs arrive at an Ohio hospital

Some cancer patients in Mansfield, Ohio just got two new treatment options that could mean less chemotherapy. OhioHealth Mansfield Hospital is now offering tarlatamab and daraxonrasib, two newer medicines that a hospital oncologist, Dr. Hamzah Abu-Sbeih, says can reduce how much chemotherapy certain patients need. They are second-line treatments — the round that comes after the first line of treatment hasn't been enough. For many patients, that second round used to mean more of the same harsh routine: sickness, exhaustion, repeated hospital stays. Having effective alternatives in reach changes that math, and with it, the shape of ordinary weeks for the people being treated.