There seems to be a massive breakthrough in the treatment of colorectal cancer after this new drug reportedly returned a 100 percent success rate in clinical trials.
The drug is called Dostarlimab and is sold under the brand name Jemperli. It has laboratory-produced molecules acting as substitute antibodies in the body. This immunotherapy drug was reportedly used in the treatment of endometrial cancer, a type of cancer that begins in the uterus. However, they just started testing it to see if it was also effective against rectal cancer tumors.
A year after the drug trial, the results left doctors and researchers stunned after all 12 rectal cancer patients were considered in remission. Physical exams, endoscopies, PET scans, and MRI scans were conducted on these patients. Yet, no trace of cancer was found in their bodies.
None of them had received chemoradiotherapy or undergone surgery during the range of the study up to the time of their report. No cases of progression or recurrence had also been reported.
This was according to the paper published on June 5 in the New England Journal of Medicine by Dr. Luis A. Diaz Jr. of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and a team of researchers. “I believe this is the first time this has happened in the history of cancer,” the doctor told The New York Times.
The first patient who participated in the study reportedly still does not have a trace of cancer two years later.
“It completely eliminated the cancer. The tumors just vanished in all 14 consecutive patients,” Dr. Andrea Cercek, an oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center said in an interview with CNN on June 7.
Counting those who were included earlier this week, ABC News reports all of the 19 participants are in complete remission, cancer-free with minimal side effects.
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