ColoRECTAL CANCER, COLON CaNCER, RECTAL CANCER, DOSTARLIMAB, CANCER DRUG, CANCER CURE, CANCER TReatment
First time in history! Wonder drug - Dostarlimab removes cancer entirely
A small group of patients just experienced something of a miracle, as their cancer completely vanished after experimental treatment
Dostarlimab experimental Drug was used during this treatment of Colorectal Cancer and was found effective to remove and reverse cancerous tumor
A small group of people with rectal cancer just experienced something of a miracle as their cancer simply vanished after experimental treatment. A group of 12 patients was administered a drug called Dostarlimab for six months and it was seen that the tumors had disappeared. These patients were having rectal cancer.
Cancer is hard news for the patient and their peers, its effects are both physical and psychological. So when research shows promising results of curing cancerous tumors then it is no short of a miracle, the current study and experiment most probably has thrown open a new gate towards cancer research and medication.
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.
THE DRUG - DOSTARLIMAB
Dostarlimab is a drug with laboratory-produced molecules that act as substitute antibodies in the human body.
“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. Andrea Cercek, the researchers and a co-author of the paper 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.
Result of study
As published by the research article a total of 12 patients have completed treatment in which a single-agent dostarlimab, an anti–PD-1 monoclonal antibody, was administered every 3 weeks for 6 months in patients with mismatch repair–deficient stage II or III rectal adenocarcinoma. All 12 patients (100%; 95% confidence interval, 74 to 100) had a clinical complete response, with no evidence of tumor on magnetic resonance imaging, 18F-fluorodeoxyglucose–positron-emission tomography, endoscopic evaluation, digital rectal examination, or biopsy. 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 (range, 6 to 25 months). No adverse events of grade 3 or higher have been reported.
The research article is titled as "PD-1 Blockade in Mismatch Repair–Deficient, Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer " published by the New England Journal of Medicine
Let's check out what is Mismatch repair-deficient colorectal cancer, programmed death 1 (PD-1) blockade, Metastatic Disease and what is locally Advanced Colorectal Cancer.
What’s mismatch repair-deficient colorectal cancer?
Mismatch repair-deficient describes cells that have mutations (changes) in certain genes that are involved in correcting mistakes made when DNA is copied in a cell. Mismatch repair (MMR) deficient cells usually have many DNA mutations, which may lead to cancer. MMR deficiency is most common in colorectal cancer, other types of gastrointestinal cancer, and endometrial cancer, but it may also be found in cancers of the breast, prostate, bladder, and thyroid. MMR deficiency may also be found in an inherited disorder called Lynch syndrome. Knowing if a tumor is MMR deficient may help plan treatment or predict how well the tumor will respond to treatment.
What’s the incidence of *mismatch repair-deficient colorectal cancer ?
The Mismatch Repair-deficient colorectal cancer is between 5-10% of overall colon rectum cancer. Currently, the drug Dostarlimab has been found successful for patients having Mismatch repair-deficient Rectal Cancer, so its benefits as per the current published research are limited to this type of specific category for colon cancer. However, this study has opened new possibilities for cancer research and cure with success in a certain category.
What’s programmed death 1 (PD-1) blockade in the context of metastatic disease?
PD-1 is a protein found on T cells (a type of immune cell) that helps keep the body’s immune responses in check. When PD-1 is bound to another protein called PD-L1, it helps keep T cells from killing other cells, including cancer cells. Some anticancer drugs, called immune checkpoint inhibitors, are used to block PD-1. When this protein is blocked, the “brakes” on the immune system are released and the ability of T cells to kill cancer cells is increased.
What’s locally Advanced Colorectal Cancer?
Locally advanced colon(colorectal) cancer is clinically defined as primary colon cancer with direct invasion to the adjacent structures or extensive regional lymph node involvement.
What’s Metastatic Disease?
Metastasis or Metastatic means that cancer spreads to a different body part from where it started. When this happens, doctors say the cancer has “metastasized.” Your doctor may also call it "metastatic cancer," "advanced cancer," or "stage 4 cancer." But these terms can have different meanings. For example, a cancer that is large but has not spread to another body part can also be called advanced cancer or locally advanced cancer.
TREATMENT & RELATED COST of DRUG dostarLiMab
The Dostarlimab drug currently costs around 6798 EURO, i.e 7208 USD and 5,60,000 INR for a Single Dose Vial of 500 mg/10 ml.
The Drug is developed by Glaxo Smith Kline (GSK) pharmaceuticals and is currently approved for medical use.
Dostarlimab is sold under the brand name Jemperli, is a monoclonal antibody used as a medication for the treatment of endometrial cancer. Dostarlimab is a programmed death receptor-1 –blocking monoclonal antibody. Dostarlimab was approved for medical use in the United States and the European Union in April 2021.
Summary
Mismatch repair–deficient, locally advanced rectal cancer was highly sensitive to single-agent PD-1 blockade.
Longer follow-up is needed to assess the duration of response.
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