According to the researchers, all the patients in a small clinical trial saw their cancer disappear after receiving experimental immunotherapy treatment.
A trial of locally advanced rectal cancer patients saw six months of treatment with a drug called dostarlimab.
The cancer went into remission in all 12 patients and was then said to be undetectable by endoscopy, physical examination, and scans.
Dr. Luis Diaz, one of the lead authors and oncologist at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, told The New York Times, “This is the first time this has happened in the history of cancer.”
Despite the results, the scientists emphasized that they do not call it a cure because more studies and tests are needed, but the cancer has not returned to any of the patients since the trial ended.
The drug from the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline is used in the treatment of endometrial cancer and was given to each patient in the New York-led trial every three weeks.
Scientists have said that these drugs are also used in other treatments, such as melanoma, and are not directly targeted at cancer cells, but allow a person’s immune system to identify and detect them. destroy.
The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Scientists have said the research could provide an “early view of a revolutionary change in treatment”, but due to the size of the study, more research and “longer follow-up” will be needed to assess the duration of the study. answer.