Ben Sasse’s cancer: What to know about the treatment causing his face to bleed

A revolutionary pancreatic cancer drug in late-stage clinical trials is extending the life of former Sen. Ben Sasse, but it is also causing painful skin side effects.

Sasse, who retired from politics in 2023 to become the president of the University of Florida, was diagnosed in December 2025 with advanced pancreatic cancer, the third most deadly form of cancer in the United States according to the National Cancer Institute.

When first diagnosed, Sasse was given roughly three months to live. The new medication, daraxonrasib from Revolution Medicines, is giving patients such as Sasse more time, but it comes with the jarring side effect of skin rash, peeling, and bleeding, similar to severe psoriasis.

Sasse told the New York Times earlier this week in his first in-depth podcast interview since the diagnosis that he was able to enroll in the clinical trial for daraxonrasib through M.D. Anderson in Houston. He said the medication