A new study has revealed promising results for a drug in the treatment of rectal cancer, in a result described as "the first time this has happened in the history of cancer."

The generic name of the drug is Dostarlimab, and it is sold under the trade name Jimperli.

The study was conducted in the United States and was published in The New England Journal of Medicine and found that every patient treated in the trial was cured of rectal cancer.

The study was transferred to the websites of "Science Alert" and "NBC New York".

Dustarlimab is an immunotherapy used to treat endometrial cancer, but this was the first study to look at whether it was also effective in treating rectal cancer tumors.

Dostarlimb is surprisingly effective

The early results reported so far indicate that dostarlimab is surprisingly effective, with the research team saying that the results seen in every single patient they tested may be unprecedented.

"I think this is the first time this has happened in the history of cancer," oncologist Luis Diaz Jr. of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, lead author of the study, told the New York Times.

It is worth noting that positive results have only appeared in 14 patients so far, and the trial is still ongoing.

All patients have tumors with genetic mutations called mismatch repair deficiency, which occurs in about 5-10% of patients with rectal cancer.

Patients with such tumors tend to be less responsive to chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which increases the need for surgical removal of their tumors.

However, 'mismatch repair deficiency' mutations can also make cancer cells more susceptible to an immune response.

The immune system attacks cancer cells

"When these mutations accumulate in a tumor, they stimulate the immune system, which attacks cancer cells that have the mutations," Diaz says.

"Standard (conventional) treatment for rectal cancer with surgery, radiation and chemotherapy can be particularly difficult for people due to the location of the tumor," said lead researcher Andrea Sircik, an oncologist. "They can experience life-altering bowel and bladder dysfunction, incontinence and infertility. impotence, and more.

In an astonishing development, patients who have enrolled in this trial so far have completely avoided all of these procedures and their associated side effects.

In the second phase of the study, patients were given dostarlimab every 3 weeks for 6 months, with standard radiochemotherapy and planned surgery if the tumors came back.

After 6 months of follow-up, all 14 patients in the trial showed a "complete clinical response", with no evidence of tumors visible via MRI scans, PET scans, endoscopy and biopsy, among other tests.

Currently, about 14 patients have completed treatment and have undergone at least 6 months of follow-up.

About 3 quarters of patients have so far experienced mild or moderate side effects, including rash, itching, fatigue, and nausea, but none of them have yet experienced new cancer growth, with the average follow-up being one year, and some patients remaining clear. of cancer for two years.


solid crabs

Hematologist and oncologist in Chicago, Dr. Basil Al-Atassi, who holds the American Board of Internal Medicine in addition to his specialization in both hematology and oncology, said that dustarlimab is a new drug from the family of immuno-cancer drugs "a monoclonal antibody against BD1" (Anti- PD-1 Monoclonal Antibody) and Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor.

Al-Atassi added - in exclusive statements to Al-Jazeera Net - that the basic experiments on dostarlimab were on patients with solid cancers such as rectal cancer and uterine cancer who carry the "mismatch repair deficiency" mutation.

Dr. Al-Atassi said, "The results of the study were impressive. Very few studies show 100% effectiveness, which was demonstrated by the complete response of 14 non-metastatic rectal cancer patients, who were treated with this drug and avoided routine difficult treatments, such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery."

"But we keep in mind that this is still a study in its early stages. The follow-up period for these patients is only two years, and the number of patients is also small, and the larger the study sample size and the longer the follow-up period, the clearer the results."

Dr. Al-Atassi said, "It is worth noting that this drug is given only to patients who have the mismatch repair deficiency mutation only, which is a category estimated at 5-10% of rectal cancer patients, and it is not given to all patients."

He mentioned that many studies are now studying giving the drug to patients other than the rectum and uterus.


dostarlimb cost

Dr. Al-Atassi said that the drug dostarlimab is new and is not available in all countries, and it can be replaced by other immunomodulatory drugs that have the same mechanism of action and meet the same purpose, such as the drug "Pembrolizumab".

In answer to our question about the price of Dustarlimab, Dr. Al-Atassi said that Dustarlimab is expensive like other immunosuppressive drugs, and its price in America reaches more than 10,000 dollars per dose.