It could “triple their chances of survival”.
When cancer is detected, several treatments are offered to patients on a case-by-case basis to fight the disease. Operation, radiotherapy, chemotherapy… These protocols aim to prevent it from spreading and to minimize the risk of recurrence as much as possible. They are often burdensome for patients and cause many side effects that are difficult to bear. A clinical test English called “NEOPRISM-CRC”, presented on June 2 at the annual conference of theAmerican Society of Clinical Oncology of Chicago (ASCO), highlighted the effectiveness of an immunotherapy drug capable of “triple the chances of survival” of certain patients.
In this trial, 32 patients with operable stage 2 or 3 colorectal cancer and a certain genetic profile more likely to respond to the immunotherapy drug were selected. They received the treatment for 9 weeks instead of the usual treatment of chemotherapy and surgery. The results indicate that 59% of patients no longer had any signs of cancer after immunotherapy. Among the remaining 41% “all cancer was removed during surgery (which followed taking the medication, editor’s note)” can we read in the Press release. In comparison, when chemotherapy is given to patients with this genetic profile, less than 5% no longer show signs of cancer after surgery.
Up to 19 months cancer free
The median cancer-free period was 9.7 months and ranged from 5 to 19 months among trial patients. “Immunotherapy prior to surgery could well be a game changer […]. Not only is the result better, but it saves patients from having to undergo more conventional chemotherapy, which often causes more side effects.” rejoiced Professor Mark Saunders, clinical oncologist. The medicine can “completely changing the face of cancer treatment. Immunotherapy can make tumors disappear before surgery”added Dr. Kai-Keen Shi, chief investigator of the trial in theExpress.uk.
The treatment favored here is “pembrolizumab”, a relatively new drug which works by stimulating the immune system to fight against cancer cells. This is the principle of immunotherapy which differs from chemotherapy which attacks the tumor directly. In France, pembrolizumab is marketed under the name Keytruda®, and is indicated “in combination with chemotherapy […] then continued after surgery as monotherapy as adjuvant treatment” in triple negative, inflammatory or early breast cancers with a high risk of recurrence, recalls the High Authority of Health. It may also be indicated in the treatment of lung cancers at high risk of recurrence. “Our results indicate that pembrolizumab is a safe and highly effective treatment for improving outcomes in patients with high-risk bowel cancers, increasing the chances of curing the disease at an early stage. We need to wait to see if “Patients in our trial will remain cancer-free for a longer period of time, but early indications are overwhelmingly positive.” continued Dr. Kai-Keen Shi. For now, he has announced “expand the trial to more than 70 patients in the hope of demonstrating the impact of this drug on relapse-free survival“.