Hope for cancer patients
A breakthrough in Cancer treatment is on the horizon. Dostarlimab, a new drug, believed to have cured all patients in a clinical trial is being hailed as a historic development HAS THE POTENTIAL TO CURE A VARIETY OF CANCERS
Twelve rectal cancer patients achieved complete remission in a groundbreaking clinical trial at the MSK Cancer Center in New York City. During the trials, which were published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), all of the patients’ tumours vanished after they were given a drug called Dostarlimab.
“I believe this is the first time this has happened in the history of cancer,” said Dr. Luis A. Diaz Jr, the author of the paper published in the NEJM, in reference to the breakthrough results. The trial’s final outcome astounded experts worldwide, who noted that complete remission in every single patient is “unheard-of.”
Dostarlimab has the potential to be a cure for one of the most lethal common cancers, despite the small trial size.
WHAT IS THIS WONDER DRUG?
Dostarlimab is an experimental drug, but patients who received it no longer required radiation or chemotherapy and experienced no long-term side effects.
Dostarlimab is a humanised monoclonal antibody that prevents cancer cell receptors from binding, allowing immune cells to effectively neutralise the tumour. The drug was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration last year for recurrent or advanced endometrial cancers (cancers of the uterus) with mismatch repair deficiency.
We are yet to start any trials on Dostarlimab in India, and because it has a specific indication, patient selection is critical. Despite the fact that other immunotherapy drugs are being tested in clinical trials. The Dostarlimab trial at New York’s Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Center shows promising results, but due to the small sample size, we must wait for long-term data. A multi-center first-in-human trial called GARNET is currently underway in the United States, with over 800 patients expected to participate, says Dr G V Rao.
IMMUNOTHERAPY (THE USE OF SUBSTANCES THAT HELP THE BODY’S OWN IMMUNE SYSTEM FIGHT CANCER) HAS SIGNIFICANTLY IMPROVED CANCER PATIENTS’ SURVIVAL RATES AND QUALITY OF LIFE OVER THE LAST DECADE. THIS NOVEL TREATMENT MODALITY HAS THE POTENTIAL TO HELP PATIENTS SUFFERING FROM A VARIETY OF CANCER TYPES” — DR G V RAO,