The author of a viewpoint in the New England Journal of Medicine is a doctor from the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. The immunotherapy drug dostarlimab was found to be especially effective in a phase II clinical trial of a dozen patients with a type of rectal cancer.
Some rectal cancers are deficient in mismatch repair enzymes. The chance that surgical treatment is necessary is increased by the fact that these cancers are less responsive to therapy. Nerve damage is one of the health consequences of surgery.
Many of the rectal cancer cases in the US last year were in people under the age of 65. The need for better and more effective treatments that can prolong lifespan while maintaining quality of life is one of the reasons why Sanoff is the quality and innovation officer of the North Carolina Cancer Hospital. The initial findings of the remarkable benefit with the use of dostarlimab are very encouraging but need to be viewed with caution until the results can be replicated in a larger and more diverse population.
Sanoff warned that little is known about how long the benefit of the drug will last or whether it will be effective in the long term. Patients in this trial have only been observed for a short period of time.
Sanoff said that the responses in the first 12 patients in the trial were remarkable and exceeded expectations. It's encouraging that some of the most difficult symptoms, such as pain and bleeding, all resolved with the use of dostarlimab.
There are other immunotherapy drugs that could be tested against rectal cancer. She said that she can think of nothing better for her patients than being able to offer them a drug that is more effective, less toxic and avoids surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation.
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