Tunisian researcher discovers effective treatment for colon cancer
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Loading... - Kathy Grant
- 10 Oct 2022
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It was during the International Cancer Congress (Esmo), which took place last week in Paris, that Tunisian-born researcher Myriam Chalabi, from the Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam, presented the results. a phase III trial (the most relevant for deciding on the usefulness of a treatment) on the interest of immunotherapy, with treatment with a therapeutic antibody, dostarlimab, before surgery in a subtype especially in patients with colorectal cancer.
100% remission
Tested on a small cohort of twelve patients, suffering from phase II or III rectal adenocarcinoma, dostarlimab made it possible to eradicate the tumor purely and simply after an injection every three weeks for six months. In 100% of patients, the tumor was undetectable on CT, MRI, endoscopy and rectal biopsies. They did not need surgery or chemotherapy to complete the action of dostarlimab. No patient had a relapse during the follow-up period, which lasted from 6 to 25 months. Dostarlimab did not cause serious side effects in most patients, only rashes, fatigue, nausea, and pruritus. Only one person developed a non-life-threatening thyroid problem.
Dostarlimab is also a hope for people with Lynch syndrome – eight of the twelve participants in the clinical trial. This inherited disease drastically increases the risk of developing colorectal cancer throughout life, and is associated with poorer outcomes after surgery or cancer chemotherapy. Immunotherapy could be a promising tool to treat patients affected by Lynch syndrome.
Lasting results?
This approach only works on so-called DNA mismatch system-deficient rectal cancers, which represent between 10 to 15% of rectal adenocarcinomas diagnosed each year.
Dostarlimab is an antibody that prevents the recognition of the PD-1 receptor, located on T cells, with its ligand PDL-1, located on cancer cells. The interaction of the receptor with its ligand paralyzes the immune response – instead of destroying the abnormal cell, the T lymphocyte spares it. By mechanically blocking this interaction, dostarlimab allows T cells to destroy the abnormal cell. Read More...
