Study of hope: Cancer Study with Unexpected Results
A group of researchers under the guidance of Dr. Luis A. Diaz Jr. of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and sponsored by the drug company GlaxoSmithKline found a surprising result that the rectal cancer of all 12 participant patients was evanesced and the result was confirmed firstly by physical examination and then the diagnosis through endoscopy, positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI).
Deficiency in mismatch repair causes rectal cancer. Colorectal cancer with mismatch repair-deficient is liable to blockade of programmed cell death-1 (PD-1) in metastatic disease. The programmed cell death-1 protein (PD-1) is a type I transmembrane glycoprotein of 50–55-kDa, whose extracellular domain shares 21–33% sequence identity with CTLA-4, CD28, and ICOS. It was hypothesized that checkpoint inhibitors could be effective in cancer patients.
The study showed the effect of checkpoint inhibitor drug Dostarlimab (anti-PD-1 monoclonal antibody) treatment on rectal adenocarcinoma patients of the stage- II or III. By unmasking the cancer cells, Dostarlimab permits immune cells to recognize and kill them. Patients with a complete course of Dostarlimab therapy need not do any further chemoradiation therapy or surgery.
The patients were treated with Dostarlimab and the drug was provided every three weeks for six months. The cost of a single dose is about $11,000.
Due to this successful drug trial study now, there is no need for any chemoradiation therapy and surgical treatment for cancer patients. So, they also feel free to after treatment side effects.
References:
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2201445
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/05/health/rectal-cancer-checkpoint-inhibitor.html
