A clinical trial of a drug called Dostarlimab has resulted in the complete remission of rectal cancer in all the 18 patients who took the drug for around six months.
Dr Alan P. Venook, a colorectal cancer specialist at the University of California who was not involved in the trial, has been quoted as saying that complete remission in every single patient in a trial is “unheard of”. He was also surprised that there were no clinically significant complications in any patient.
Dostarlimab, according to experts, is a drug with laboratory-produced molecules. It acts as a substitute to antibodies in the human body.
After the trial, the cancer in the patients’ bodies was and remains undetectable by physical exams, endoscopy, PET scans or MRI scans.
Researchers, who have found the treatment promising, want a larger-scale trial of the drug.
At present, rectal cancer is treated though chemotherapy, radiation, and invasive surgery. All these treatments run the risks of bowel, urinary, and sexual dysfunction.
