A breakthrough drug brings fresh hope for many cancer patients

A breakthrough drug brings fresh hope for many cancer patients

The promising trials of a new monoclonal antibody drug dostarlimab which led to remission of rectal cancer in all 18 patients who took part has taken the medical world by storm. No cancer drug before this has yielded such overwhelming results before. An NYT report indicated that the patients were bracing for more rounds of the tortuous cancer treatment regimen like chemotherapy, radiation therapy, etc, and use of colostomy bags, etc, but did not need them as an array of scans including the most conclusive PET scans couldn’t detect cancer cells.

However, researchers are also advising caution as the trial size was small and it’s still too early to say whether the cancer could return. Also the cancer was still localised and hadn’t metastasised. With further trials certain to enroll volunteers to test various conditions, answers to questions like whether it would work for other cancers and could treat metastasis will be revealed. Of further significance is that none of the participants developed an adverse reaction to the MAB treatment, a common problem while treating cancers.

Colorectal cancer is the fifth most diagnosed cancer in India and studies indicate growing disease burden with junk food consumption growinh. The growing incidence has also forced many countries to recommend colorectal cancer screening between 45 and 75. Glaxo Smithkline, which fell behind in the Covid vaccine race, mustn’t lose time in conducting further trials. Hopefully, it will make the drug available for countries like India at affordable rates as soon as commercial production begins. Too many lives are being lost to colorectal cancer, with current treatment modes struggling to prevent metastasis.