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A new immunotherapy drug has given promising results in the treatment of bowel cancer, striking out the need for patients to get surgery and chemotherapy.
The new drug called Jemperli, also known as dostarlimab, showed “unprecedented results” as it fully cured bowel cancer in patients, proving effective in 100% of cases, The Sun reported.
According to data presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) conference in Chicago, every patient on the medication had locally advanced mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) rectal cancer, a form of bowel cancer.
Jemperli is already approved on the National Health Service (NHS) for women with some types of advanced or recurrent womb cancer.
A US trial led by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre has found that all 42 patients have responded to treatment, with no tumours detected on scans.
Studies suggest (dMMR) rectal cancer accounts for five to 10% of all rectal cancers.
Hesham Abdullah, a senior vice president at GSK — the company that made the drug — said: “The data showing no evidence of disease in 42 patients is remarkable.”
Currently, patients with this type of cancer are treated via chemotherapy plus radiation, followed by surgery.
Andrea Cercek, principal investigator for the phase II study, said the new treatment showed “durable complete tumour regression without the need for life-altering treatment”.
She added: “As a clinician, I’ve seen firsthand the debilitating impact of standard treatment of dMMR rectal cancer. I am thrilled about the potential of dostarlimab in these patients.”
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