Dostarlimab Unmasks Cancer Cells
Let’s begin by saying that the trial is small in scale, only involving 18 patients with rectal cancer. Researchers from the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center headed the study, which was sponsored by Tesaro, a small biotech firm bought by the big pharma group, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK).
The drug the patient took was dostarlimab under the brand name Jemperli. It is a checkpoint inhibitor that can “unmask” cancer cells, allowing the immune system to recognize and destroy them.
All 18 patients received the medicine every three weeks for six months. None of the participants experienced “clinically significant complications,” although some did have muscle weakness that led to difficulty swallowing and chewing.
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.
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