On January 3, 2025, Stanford emeritus professor Paul Yock, MD, received the National Medal of Technology and Innovation at a White House ceremony for advancing cardiology and health care technology, benefiting millions of patients around the world.
Formerly the Martha Meier Weiland Professor in the Stanford School of Medicine, a professor of bioengineering and of cardiology, Yock’s practice-changing discoveries in cardiology have led to over 50 U.S. patents and to technology now routinely used in cardiac care worldwide. The award also recognized his role as a founding director of the Stanford Mussallem Center for Biodesign, which has trained hundreds of young scientists aspiring to develop technological breakthroughs and has led to health care inventions that have reached 18 million patients.
Of his Stanford career, Yock said, “I’m really grateful. I’ve had a charmed career in many respects and been enormously lucky. I’m very fond of Stanford. It provided the support that I needed to do what I thought was going to be important in my career and provided that support in a way that I don’t think any other university could, specifically the blend of engineering, medicine, and entrepreneurship is really unique at Stanford.”
In April 2025, after receiving this prestigious honor and four months before his son’s wedding, Yock was diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
The diagnosis
Yock first noticed weight loss and fatigue, symptoms he attributed to age rather than illness, so he didn’t rush to see his doctor. His general practitioner agreed that the symptoms were unlikely to indicate anything serious but ordered a CT scan to be on the safe side.
The scan exposed a pancreatic mass and multiple lesions in the liver.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest malignancies, with only 13% of patients surviving five years after diagnosis. The disease metastasizes early, often before patients develop noticeable symptoms, leading to diagnosis at advanced stages when curative treatment is rarely feasible. Even when detected early, pancreatic cancer is notoriously resistant to standard therapies, including chemotherapy, radiation, and immunotherapy.
Understanding the challenges inherent in treating pancreatic cancer, Yock opted to get his cancer care at Stanford because of the institutional expertise and access to clinical trials.
Starting cancer treatment at Stanford
Yock received a call from Lipika Goyal, MD, MPhil, associate professor of medicine and director of the Stanford Cancer Institute Gastrointestinal Clinical Research Group, who volunteered to oversee his care. Her team saw him promptly for examination and to ensure he was ready for treatment.
Goyal recounted, “When Paul came to my clinic in April, he had a single request: ‘Please help me get to my son's wedding in August.’"
Multiple Stanford teams expedited Yock’s care. Goyal explained that they recognize the urgency for a rapid diagnosis when patients learn cancer is a possibility. Within days of the initial oncology visit, Stanford’s interventional radiology team performed a diagnostic tumor biopsy, and the gastrointestinal interventional team relieved a tumor blockage of the bile duct. If not addressed, this blockage could prevent proper liver function and interfere with cancer treatment. Goyal’s team also ordered a liquid biopsy, a blood test that rapidly analyzes tumor DNA circulating in a patient’s bloodstream to identify targetable mutations.
Yock was immediately impressed with Goyal’s expertise, speed, and care. He said, “She’s obviously incredibly sharp but also just full of life. She’s a big personality and really fun to spend time with.”
The Stanford Cancer Institute Gastrointestinal Clinical Research Group has multiple phase 1, 2, and 3 clinical trials for advanced pancreatic cancer evaluating novel, or newly developed, drugs as frontline treatments, the first therapies administered following an initial diagnosis. Goyal wanted to see if Yock qualified for any of these trials before starting him on a standard course of chemotherapy. She hoped to include precision cancer medicine as part of his treatment and give him a drug directly targeting his tumor.
The promise of KRAS inhibitors
Yock’s tumor was found to have a mutation in the KRAS gene, which regulates cell growth under normal conditions. When mutated, the gene becomes persistently activated, driving uncontrolled proliferation of cancer cells. KRAS mutations occur in 90% of pancreatic cancers, making them an important focus for gastrointestinal cancer researchers.
KRAS inhibitors are drugs that block the activity of the mutated KRAS gene, seeking to stop or slow the growth of cancer cells that depend on KRAS for survival.
“KRAS was long considered to be an undruggable target. Now, multiple companies are developing KRAS inhibitors, and KRAS G12C inhibitors are already FDA-approved for multiple cancers,” Goyal explained.
KRAS G12C occurs in approximately 13% of lung cancer, 3% of colorectal cancer, and only 1-2% of pancreatic cancers. The therapeutic success of KRAS G12C inhibitors suggests that other KRAS mutations may also be druggable, helping more patients with advanced disease.
Stanford clinical trial of a novel KRAS inhibitor
Goyal identified that Yock’s tumor had a KRAS G12D mutation. Accounting for 40% of KRAS mutations in pancreatic cancer, it is one of the most common genetic changes in the disease, with Stanford actively testing targeted inhibitors in clinical trials. Goyal moved quickly to enroll Yock in a phase 1 trial of a novel KRAS G12D inhibitor in combination with chemotherapy.
“The degree of motivation on her part, personal attention, and just her ability to get things done, she is a remarkably effective person in navigating these complexities,” he said.
Yock noted that he has learned cancer care has complicated logistics. His care involves coordinating the trial drug with standard chemotherapy, monitoring side effects, scheduling tests and scans, arranging consultations across various services, and ensuring the trial’s research protocol is followed by all involved in his care.
He expressed his appreciation for the team’s seamless management of his care and for the emotional support and encouragement they’ve provided.
“They come to the infusion center, and they are with you to take an electrocardiogram, blood tests, or whatever it is that needs to be done. They are people who very much care about what’s happening with the patient and communicate that well.”
He described a recent clinic visit with Goyal that required him to walk to the infusion center, but that day he felt weaker than usual and was visibly wobbly on his feet. Upon seeing him walk, Goyal volunteered to escort him.
“Lipika said, ‘We’re going together,’ and she grabbed my arm and walked me up, as a sort of human crutch, to the infusion center, way out of her way. I’m sure she was behind in her schedule that day, but it was a very human moment for me.”
Improved quality of life and dramatic tumor shrinkage
Goyal noted that one of the most striking aspects of KRAS G12D inhibitors is their relatively mild side effect profile. Unlike chemotherapy, which often must be paused due to infections or hospitalizations, patients can frequently continue treatment with a KRAS inhibitor through these complications. She reported that this has been the case for Yock, as complications from his cancer required him to miss roughly half of his chemotherapy doses. However, he remained on the KRAS inhibitor consistently.
“That’s actually one of the advantages of getting treated on this trial,” Goyal explained. “Because the KRAS inhibitor is a pill with relatively few side effects, patients can often stay on anti-cancer treatment even when chemotherapy has to be held.”
To date, Yock has experienced an 80% reduction in tumor size and has remained on therapy for approximately nine months, an outcome Goyal attributes to the combination of the KRAS inhibitor and chemotherapy. She added that all Stanford patients enrolled in the KRAS G12D inhibitor trial have demonstrated significant tumor shrinkage.
Goyal is excited about Yock’s progress and that he is doing well overall. She detailed a recent text message exchange where Yock wrote, “I feel quite a bit better,” to which she replied, “Eat like you just got out of jail.” In response, he sent a picture of himself enjoying a slice of chocolate cake.
“That’s the magic of KRAS inhibitors,” she said.
Celebrating at his son’s wedding
On the day of his son’s wedding, a friend provided Yock with an electric wheelchair to help him get from the venue’s hotel to the ceremony site. Once he arrived, he was able to walk arm in arm with his son to take a seat at the front of the ceremony.
“It was a really moving experience for me,” he said.
He contributed a few brief speaking pieces at the wedding and had a fun, memorable time celebrating with family and friends.
Of being able to get to that moment, he said, “Pancreatic cancer is a bad tumor, and it’s fast. I was diagnosed in April, and I had my son getting married in August. I was looking at that and thinking, ‘I wonder if it’s possible I can make it to my son’s wedding.’ I think it’s fair to say that being able to be alive long enough to do that was a direct result of the care I received.”
He added, “It’s now nine months later, and I’m still here and feeling not all that bad.”
Bringing innovative treatments to patients
The Stanford Cancer Institute Gastrointestinal Clinical Research Group is working to open multiple additional KRAS inhibitor trials in 2026. One of the key strategies they’re exploring is the use of KRAS inhibitors in earlier stages of pancreatic cancer. Traditionally, these patients receive chemotherapy after surgery, but Goyal and her team are investigating whether adding KRAS inhibitors can improve survival and even increase the chances of a cure.
In addition to targeting pancreatic cancer, researchers are evaluating the potential of KRAS inhibitors to treat other gastrointestinal cancers that exhibit KRAS mutations, such as colorectal, stomach, small bowel, and bile duct cancers. Goyal noted that most unresectable or metastatic gastrointestinal cancers have a median survival of six to 12 months, highlighting the importance of bringing novel drugs to patients with limited treatment options, as these drugs could be a potential lifeline and improve both survivability and quality of life.
Since Goyal began leading the Gastrointestinal Clinical Research Group in February 2023, she has concentrated on building industry partnerships to expand access to novel drugs for cancer patients and has brought first-in-world clinical trials to Stanford. As a result of her efforts, the program has increased patient referrals to clinical trials fivefold and clinical trial accruals threefold. This growth demonstrates the significant patient need — and demand — for novel cancer drugs.
“For the first time in pancreatic cancer, we are seeing therapies that can fundamentally change outcomes for a large percentage of patients
Goyal said, “For the first time in pancreatic cancer, we are seeing therapies that can fundamentally change outcomes for a large percentage of patients. Clinical trials allow us to transform scientific discoveries into real benefits for people, and our goal at Stanford is to ensure that patients have access to the best drugs today rather than years from now.”
