The Inspiration Was To Start Early Treatment
Dr. Luis Diaz, head researcher, said the inspiration for this rectal cancer study came from a 2017 trial he also led. The study was funded by Merck and involved 86 patients taking another checkpoint inhibitor drug pembrolizumab for as long as two years. A third to a half of the patients lived longer and 10% of them had complete remission. However, Dr. Diaz noted that all the participants had metastatic cancers or those that already spread to other areas or organs.
So they thought: What if patients received a checkpoint inhibitor drug early on, before cancer has spread? This time, too, they used dostarlimab instead of pembrolizumab.
Hence, in current study, they chose patients with locally advanced rectal cancer. This means cancer has spread within the rectum and perhaps lymph nodes, but not elsewhere.
Completely Obliterated, No Further Treatment Needed
At the end of the rectal cancer study, all 18 patients who received dostarlimab experienced complete cancer remission. Their cancer was no longer detectable in physical exams, MRI scans, PET scans, and endoscopy.
The doctors also told them that they no longer needed to undergo the standard treatments that most rectal cancer patients need like chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery that might lead to urinary, bowel, and sexual dysfunction.
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