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.
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.
A new cancer drug has shocked researchers with how well it has performed in a breakthrough study, which virtually cured every trial participant.
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 Centre.
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 US$11,000 ($16,950) per 500mg.
It 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," said Dr Luis Diaz, lead author of a new paper on the drug.
"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."
Researchers said in the New England Journal of Medicine that none of the patients had had chemoradiotherapy or surgery and none of their cancers had progressed or recurred.
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
"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."
Paper co-author Dr Andrea Cercek, an oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre, said "there were a lot of happy tears".
"It's incredibly rewarding to get these happy tears and happy emails from the patients in this study who finish treatment and realise, 'Oh my God, I get to keep all my normal body functions that I feared I might lose to radiation or surgery'."
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.
