Rare result: Cancer vanishes in all patients during drug trial
In a first, a small clinical trial has found 100% eradication of cancer without patients having to go through the painful and time-consuming chemotherapy sessions. According to The New York Times, 18 rectal cancer patients, who received the experimental drug found that their cancer had vanished. The clinical trial was conducted by the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.
Why does this story matter?
Cancer is one of the deadliest diseases for the number of lives it claims every year. According to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO), as many as 10 million people died in 2020 and cancer was responsible for every one in six deaths. While breast cancer cases topped the chart, it was followed by lung, colon, and rectum cancer.
'Dostarlimab' given to 18 patients
In the trial, 18 patients were administered a drug called 'Dostarlimab' for around six months, and each one of them saw their tumors disappear. The center's Dr. Luis A Diaz J said that this was "the first time this has happened in the history of cancer." Dostarlimab acts as substitute antibodies in the human body and is a drug with laboratory-produced molecules.
Patients earlier underwent chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery
The New York Times reported that all the 18 patients earlier underwent treatments such as chemotherapy, radiation, and invasive surgery. Some also suffered side effects such as bowel, urinary, and even sexual dysfunction. After the administration of 'Dostarlimab', the cancer was "undetectable by physical exam, endoscopy, positron emission tomography or positron emission tomography (PET) scans or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans," experts said.
Experts hail 'unheard-of' research
The patients and doctors were pleasantly surprised when they found the 18 patients didn't need any further treatment after being given 'Dostarlimab'. However, experts were shocked by the findings of the trial and "pointed out that complete remission in every single patient is "unheard-of," while hailing the research as a "world-first." The patients also didn't show any noticeable complications after the drug trial.
'No recurrence had been reported during follow-up'
"At the time of this report, no patients had received chemoradiotherapy or undergone surgery, and no cases of progression or recurrence had been reported during follow-up," researchers wrote in the study published in The New York Times.
