A new cancer drug has shocked researchers with how well it has performed in a breakthrough study, which cured every member participating in the trial.
A new cancer drug has shocked researchers with how well it has performed in a breakthrough study, which virtually cured every member participating in the trial.
Dostarlimab, a monoclonal antibody drug that is approved to treat endometrial cancer in the UK, exceeded expectations in a trial held at New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
One year after the trial ended, each of the 18 colorectal cancer patients had gone into remission and doctors were reportedly unable to find signs of the cancer.
Dostarlimab costs about $11,000 (A$15,200) per 500mg dose in the US.
It is currently is given to around 100 advanced endometrial cancer patients every year, aiming to improve patients’ quality of life and avoid chemotherapy.
“Our message is: Get tested if you have rectal cancer to see if the tumour is MMRd,” Dr Luis Diaz, lead author of a new paper ont he drug, said.
“No matter what stage the cancer is, we have a trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering that may help you. And MSK has special expertise that really matters.”
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One year after the trial ended, each of the 18 participants‘ cancer had gone into remission and doctors were reportedly unable to find signs of the cancer. Source: Memorial Sloan Kettering
“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,” researchers wrote in the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
“The results enabled us to omit both chemoradiotherapy and surgery and to proceed with observation alone.
‘The implications for quality of life are substantial, especially among patients in whom standard treatment would affect childbearing potential.”
‘There were a lot of happy tears,” oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and a co-author of the paper Dr Andrea Cercek said.
Cancer cells. Computer illustration of cancer cells, showing the blood vessel formation providing the cells with oxygens and nutrients. The cells with their nuclei are shown in blue.
“It’s incredibly rewarding to get these happy tears and happy emails from the patients in this study who finish treatment and realize, ‘Oh my God, I get to keep all my normal body functions that I feared I might lose to radiation or surgery’.”
According to Cancer Australia, colorectal cancer – also known as bowel cancer – affects 100,000 Australians every year, with 15,000 Aussies diagnosed with the disease in 2021.
People who are diagnosed with bowel cancer have a 70 per cent chance of surviving five years.
It was the second most common cause of cancer death in 2019, with 5,255 deaths.