A group of 18 people were administered a drug called Dostarlimab for six months
For what would seem unbelievable to many, has really happened and most probably has thrown open a new gate towards cancer research and medication. As per a news report, a small group of cancer patients experienced a miraculous escape from the dreadful disease in the course of an experiment.
A group of 18 people were administered a drug called Dostarlimab for six months and it was seen that the tumors had disappeared. These patients were having rectal cancer.
"The first time this has happened in the history of cancer"
“It’s what cancer doctors’ dreams are made of,” Dr. Andrea Cercek, the researchers and a co-author of the paper said on the massive breakthrough research.
The research study, which has been published in the New England Journal of Medicine, was based on finding out if dostarlimab coupled with chemoradiotherapy and standard surgery is an effective treatment against tumors.
A total of 32 authors have been listed in the research paper which was supported by the Simon and Eve Colin Foundation, GlaxoSmithKline, Stand Up to Cancer, Swim Across America, and the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health.
The patients who have participated in the study did not have any chemoradiotherapy or surgery and as per the research study no case of progression or recurrence of the disease was reported during the follow up between 6 to 25 months.
"A total of 12 patients have completed treatment with dostarlimab and have undergone at least 6 months of follow-up. All 12 patients (100%; 95% confidence interval, 74 to 100) had a clinical complete response, with no evidence of tumor on magnetic resonance imaging, F-fluorodeoxyglucose–positron-emission tomography, endoscopic evaluation, digital rectal examination, or biopsy," the research paper reads.
How does dostarlimab work?
“Dostarlimab works by unlocking the body’s natural immune system to fight cancer. When we give immunotherapy like [with] dostarlimab, it ramps up the immune system so that it sees cancer and gets rid of it,” Dr Cercek explains about how the drug worked leading to this major discovery.
Another highlight of the study was that none of the patients showed any severe side effects whereas in general 3-5% of patients who are administered dostarlimab experience side effects.
Incidence rate of rectal cancer in India ranges between 3.9-4.4 per 1,00,000
As per a 2020 report by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), colon cancer ranks 8th and rectal cancer ranks 9th among men. In India, the
annual incidence rates for colon cancer and rectal cancer in men are 4.4 and 4.1 per 100000, respectively. The annual incidence rate for colon cancer in women is 3.9 per 100000.
Older men are at a higher risk of developing this condition. Diabetes mellitus associated with insulin resistance, ulcerative colitis, consumption of fresh red meat and processed meat, obesity, cigarette smoking, decreased physical activity, human immunodeficiency virus infection, decreased dietary fibre and fruit intake and presence of coronary heart disease.