A United States (US) drug trial involving cancer patients
has reportedly recorded 100 percent success.
The patients had rectal cancer, a type of cancer that begins
in the rectum, which is the lower end of the large intestine.
According to a study published in the New England Journal of
Medicine, the trial consisted of 12 patients, all of whom entered remission
after taking “dostarlimab” over a six-month period.
Dostarlimab is an immunotherapy drug used in the treatment
of endometrial cancer. It works by unmasking cancer cells, allowing the immune
system to identify and destroy them.
This clinical trial sought to know whether it could be
effective against rectal cancer tumours.
The researchers said the 12 patients received dostarlimab
every three weeks for six months and the treatment was to be followed by
standard chemoradiotherapy and surgery.
They, however, said six months after the patients stopped
taking the medication, they recorded significant improvement.
“A total of 12
patients have completed treatment with dostarlimab and have undergone at least
6 months of follow-up. All 12 patients (100%; 95% confidence interval, 74 to
100) had a clinical complete response, with no evidence of tumor on magnetic
resonance imaging, F-fluorodeoxyglucose–positron-emission tomography,
endoscopic evaluation, digital rectal examination, or biopsy,” the researchers
said.
“At the time of this report, no patients had received
chemoradiotherapy or undergone surgery, and no cases of progression or
recurrence had been reported during follow-up (range, 6 to 25 months). No
adverse events of grade 3 or higher have been reported.”
The scientists, however, noted that “longer follow-up is
needed to assess the duration of response” and therefore cautioned against
concluding that the cancer had been eradicated permanently.
Luis Diaz, one of the lead authors of the paper, said he did
not know of any other study in which a treatment completely got rid of cancer
in every patient.
“This is the first
time this has happened in the history of cancer,” he said.
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