Mumbai, India (CU)_ A patient of Indian descent was one among those who experienced a miracle cure with a cancer treatment being tested by a research center. All 14 patients in the experiment were completely cured of their cancers, with an extraordinary recovery rate. Nisha Varughese referred to the immunotherapy drug as a miracle, as it was effective in treating her.
According to the MSK during the trial at the Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Center in New York using dostarlimab, “The rectal cancer disappeared after immunotherapy — without the need for the standard treatments of radiation, surgery, or chemotherapy — and the cancer has not returned in any of the patients, who have been cancer-free for up to two years”.
The researchers revealed that it was the first time that all cancer patients in a clinical experiment were entirely cured by a medicine with no major side effects. The findings of the study were published in the New England Journal of Medicine in the weekend and presented at a conference of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
According to an editorial in the Journal, “The medication is an early glimpse of a revolutionary treatment shift”. According to MSK, “Immunotherapy harnesses the body’s own immune system as an ally against cancer”. It added, “The Immune cells contain a safeguard called a checkpoint, to prevent them from attacking normal cells. Cancer cells can trip this safeguard and shut down immune cells, allowing a tumor to hide and grow.”
Varughese remembered the moment when she learnt that she was fully cured of cancer. She said, “That day I didn’t see the tumor. So, I was thinking, where is the tumor? Then, I thought maybe it’s hiding somewhere inside. Doctor told me there is no more tumor. It’s a miracle.” She added that immunotherapy employs a checkpoint inhibitor that frees immune cells to recognize and kill cancer cells. According to Andrea Cercek, a cancer expert who conducted the experiment, “The immunotherapy shrank the tumors much faster than I expected.”
According to Luis Diaz, another researcher in charge of the experiment and a member of the National Cancer Advisory Board of the White House, “It’s really exciting. I think this is a great step forward for patients.” The possible treatments for rectal cancer are chemotherapy, radiation treatment, and surgery. However, Cercek said, “The most exciting part of this is that every single one of our patients has only needed immunotherapy. We haven’t radiated anybody, and we haven’t put anybody through surgery.”
Hanna K Sanoff, cancer specialist from the University of North Carolina, warned in the Journal editorial saying, “Whether the results of this small study conducted at the MSK Cancer Center will be generalisable to a broader population of patients with rectal cancer is not known yet.” She added, “Despite these uncertainties, Cercek and colleagues and their patients who agreed to forgo the standard treatment for a promising but unknown future with immunotherapy have provided what may be an early glimpse of a revolutionary treatment shift.”
