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A small number of people with rectal cancer recently experienced a miracle when their cancer simply disappeared after a new procedure. According to the New York Times, in a small clinical trial, 18 patients took a drug called Dostarlimab for about six months and saw their tumors disappear at the end.
Dostarlimab is a medication that contains laboratory-created molecules that act as substitute immunoglobulin in the human body. The same drug was given to all 18 rectal cancer patients, and as a result of the treatment, cancer was completely eradicated in every patient – undetectable by physical exam, endoscopy, positron emission tomography or PET scans, or MRI scans.
According to Dr. Luis A. Diaz J. of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, this is “the first time this has happened in the history of cancer.”
According to the New York Times, the patients in the clinical trial had previously endured arduous treatments to eradicate their cancer, such as chemotherapy, radiation, and invasive surgery, which could result in bowel, urinary, and even sexual dysfunction. The 18 patients entered the trial expecting to be subjected to these procedures as the next step. However, to their amazement, no additional treatment was required. The findings are now making headlines in the medical community. Dr. Alan P. Venook, a colorectal cancer expert at the University of California, told the media outlet that complete full recovery in every single patient is “unheard-of.” He called the study a world first. He even stated that it was especially impressive given that not all of the patients experienced significant side effects from the trial drug.
Separately, oncologist Dr Andrea Cercek of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and a co-author of the seen some the moment patients learned they were cancer-free. She told the New York Times, “There were a lot of happy tears.”
Patients in the trial received Dostarlimab every 3 weeks for 6 months. They were all in the same stage of cancer, which was locally advanced in the rectum but had not spread to other areas.
The cancer researchers who reviewed the drug have now told the media outlet that the treatment appears promising, but that a larger-scale trial is needed to see if it will work for more patient populations and if the cancers are truly in remission.
