A groundbreaking immunotherapy drug, named Jemperli or dostarlimab, has delivered promising outcomes in the treatment of bowel cancer, eliminating the necessity for surgery and chemotherapy in patients.
Reported by The Sun, this new drug demonstrated “unprecedented results,” achieving complete remission of bowel cancer in all cases, marking a 100% success rate. The drug specifically targeted locally advanced mismatch repair deficient (dMMR) rectal cancer, a subtype of bowel cancer.
Jemperli, already sanctioned by the National Health Service (NHS) for treating certain types of advanced or recurrent womb cancer, exhibited remarkable efficacy in a US trial conducted by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre. In this trial, all 42 patients responded positively to the treatment, showing no signs of tumors in follow-up scans.
Studies indicate that (dMMR) rectal cancer represents a small proportion, accounting for five to 10% of all rectal cancers.
Hesham Abdullah, a senior vice president at GSK, the pharmaceutical company behind the drug, expressed astonishment at the data, noting the absence of disease in all 42 patients as remarkable.
Traditionally, patients with this cancer subtype undergo chemotherapy combined with radiation, followed by surgical intervention. However, the introduction of Jemperli offers a paradigm shift, as highlighted by Andrea Cercek, the principal investigator for the phase II study. She emphasized the new treatment’s ability to achieve lasting complete tumor regression without subjecting patients to life-altering therapies.
Cercek, drawing from her clinical experience, acknowledged the debilitating impact of standard treatments for dMMR rectal cancer and expressed enthusiasm about the potential of dostarlimab in improving outcomes for these patients.
