Recently a drug was tested for colorectal cancer which has shown 100 % success rate in clinical trials. This could be new ray of hope in cancer treatment
According to a new article published in New England Journal of Medicine, a monoclonal antibody drug Dostarlimab has successfully cured 12 patients with rectal adenocarcinoma.
The medication given, called dostarlimab is sold under the brand name Jemperli, is an immunotherapy drug used in the treatment of endometrial cancer, but this was the first clinical investigation of whether it was also effective against rectal cancer tumors.
The early results were thought to be a breakthrough in cancer treatment as it showed successful cancer remission seen in every trial patient.
This recent study was conducted on a special variant of rectal cancer with genetic mutations called mismatched repair deficiency(MMRd).
Patients with such tumors tend to be less responsive to chemotherapy and radiation treatments, which increases the need for surgical removal of their tumors.
Usually, patients with these kinds of rectal tumors might undergo chemotherapy and radiation therapy prior to surgical removal of the cancer. Unfortunately, for many patients this gamut of treatments comes with long-lasting consequences that can last for the rest of their life.
A single-agent dostarlimab, an anti–PD-1 monoclonal antibody, was administered every 3 weeks for 6 months in patients with mismatch repair–deficient stage II or III rectal adenocarcinoma
Surprisingly all 12 patients have completed treatment with dostarlimab and have undergone at least 6 months of follow-up. All 12 patients had a clinical complete response, with no evidence of tumor on MRI, PET scan, endoscopic evaluation, digital rectal examination, or biopsy.
This is really Promising breakthrough for cancer treatment but it is still long way to see the ultimate result of this trial. This was just a phase 2 trial of this drug which was conducted on a very small
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