Unbelievable! Cancer Disappears from Every Single Patient First Time in History in New Drug Trial

In a small drug trial in the US, all of the patients treated for rectal cancer had their cancer go into remission. In what seems like a big step forward for treating rectal cancer, is this the big breakthrough in the long pursuit of a cure for cancer? While the outcome and results of this trial have only been positive, are there any side effects? How beneficial has this trial been, and will a new cancer treatment soon be available? Here’s what you need to know.

The experimental drug used was an immunotherapy drug for treating endometrial cancer.

The experimental drug administered to the patients was an immunotherapy drug called dostarlimab, which is sold under the brand name Jemperli. It is used to treat endometrial cancer, but this was the first clinical test to see if it also worked on rectal cancer tumors. So far, the early results show that it seems to be surprisingly effective. The research team says that the fact that every trial patient’s cancer went away may be the first potential breakthrough for a cancer drug.

The lead author of a new paper about the results, medical oncologist Luis Diaz Jr. from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), said, “I believe this is the first time this has happened in the history of cancer.”

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12 patients so far have shown positive outcomes

It’s important to note that the positive results have only been seen in 12 patients so far (the trial is still going on). All of these patients had tumors with a genetic mutation called mismatch repair deficiency (MMRd), which happens in about 5–10% of patients with rectal cancer.

Patients with these tumors tend to respond less well to chemotherapy and radiation treatments, which makes removing their tumors through surgery more critical.

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MMRd mutations make cancer cells weak to an immune response

While MMRd mutations render current cancer treatments like chemotherapy and radiation ineffective, they make cancer cells more vulnerable to an immune response. If an immunotherapy agent boosts the immune response, such as a checkpoint inhibitor, it frees up immune cells so they can kill cancer cells more effectively.

Diaz explains: “When those mutations accumulate in the tumor, they stimulate the immune system, which attacks the mutation-ridden cancer cells. We thought, ‘Let’s try it before cancer metastasizes as the first line of treatment.”

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