Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers and among the hardest to treat, with most patients surviving less than a year after diagnosis. But a new drug developed at Northwestern University may soon help patients live longer.

In a randomized phase 2 clinical trial, patients who received the experimental drug elraglusib, alongside standard chemotherapy, were twice as likely to be alive after one year of treatment, compared to those receiving chemotherapy alone. The drug also reduced the risk of death by 38%.

The study is one of only a few successful randomized trials in the last decade to show a survival benefit that would be applicable to a broad population of pancreatic cancer patients, according to the authors. Pancreatic cancer is the third leading cause of cancer-related mortality in the U.S.