Sanoff thinks that clinical complete response to the treatment is not a good indicator of long-term cancer control. Even though checkpoint inhibitors like dostarlimab can have effects that last for years, cancer regrowth is still expected in a small number of patients whose tumors are treated without surgery, let alone with an experimental treatment like this one.
Sanoff explains, “Very little is known about the duration of time needed to find out whether a clinical complete response to dostarlimab equates to cure.” This explanation also points out that the results need to be repeated on a larger scale to be sure of the drug’s benefits, which have only been seen in a small number of patients with MMRd tumors so far. It is still unknown if the results of this small study done at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center can be applied to a larger group of people with rectal cancer.
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With all the positive results in mind, there is still a lot to be hopeful about. The researchers are already looking into whether their single immunotherapy approach could also help patients with other tumors that have MMRd, such as some types of stomach, prostate, and pancreatic cancer.
It’s early, and there’s still a lot left to learn about this treatment method, but Sanoff says that if more research can confirm the bright promise shown here, a new type of cancer treatment will soon be available.
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Despite these unknowns, Cercek, his colleagues, and the patients who gave up standard treatment in favor of immunotherapy’s promising but unknown future have provided extensive data on what may be an early look at a revolutionary shift in treatment, writes Sanoff. “If immunotherapy can be a curative treatment for rectal cancer, eligible patients may no longer have to accept functional compromise in order to be cured- Sanoff remarks.”
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