A potentially new miracle cancer treatment resulted in remission for every patient enrolled in a clinical trial at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.
Eighteen patients diagnosed with rectal cancer enrolled in that drug trial with GlaxoSmithKline, abstaining from grueling treatments like chemotherapy. Incredibly, all participants saw their tumors disappear, according to the trial results published Sunday in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).
It appears to be the first cancer drug study conducted in which all subjects became fully cancer-free as a result. At the trial’s conclusion, there were no signs of a remaining tumor when the patients were given physical exams, endoscopies, PET scans, and MRIs.
None of the patients reported adverse reactions during the drug trial, which is rare in treatments of its type. According to The New York Times, about 20% of patients treated with checkpoint inhibitors have some sort of adverse reaction.
Very proud of our study published in @NEJM. 100% clinical complete response with dostarlimab alone in mismatch repair-deficient locally advanced #RectalCancer. No radiation or surgery! @ASCO #ASCO22 @MSKCancerCenter https://t.co/sZypoHBtj7
— Andrea Cercek (@AndreaCercek) June 5, 2022
“There were a lot of happy tears,” Dr. Andrea Cercek, an oncologist at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, said.
“I believe this is the first time this has happened in the history of cancer,” said Dr. Luis A. Diaz, author of the trial’s official report.
Some medical experts warned that the trial was diminutive and the results would need to be replicated but agreed that the treatment showed significant promise in treating cancer.
