First off, what even is cancer?

Cancer is a disease that results from the uncontrolled division of aberrant cells in an area of the body.

Then what are tumors?

Tumors are the swelling caused by abnormal growth of tissue (which could be because of cancer).

Now, back to the headline…

One small drug trial was conducted to test an experimental treatment that stops tumors in patients diagnosed with early stage rectal cancer. The trial consisted of 14 patients, out of which all of their tumors vanished after taking the experimental treatment. This experiment is truly groundbreaking as this type of success hasn’t been seen before in a cancer drug.

But, what is in the drug?

Each patient received nine intravenous doses of Dostarlimab, a relatively new medicine that works by blocking a certain cancer cell protein that, when produced, might induce the immune system to suppress its cancer-fighting response. "The results were so successful that none of the 14 patients who completed the trial needed the planned follow-up treatment of chemo-radiation or surgery, nor did any have significant complications from the drug. Four other patients in the trial are still undergoing treatment but thus far are showing the same promising results." says the Washington Post. Yet, there is still some skepticism. Dr. (Col.) R. Ranga Rao, Oncology Chairman at Paras Hospitals, Gurugram, told news agency ANI, "This is very encouraging but we must note that long-term studies are required to understand the real impact," and "The drug is still investigational and the trial is limited to patients of a specific type, which constitute about four to five per cent of rectal cancers. While this is highly encouraging, we must not prematurely jump to conclusions that we have found a cure for all cancers, all stages, and no chemotherapy, or surgery is ever required." But, all this being said, this experimental treatment is really a groundbreaking discovery and will aid in lots of research to come!


Resources:

Bellware, Kim. “Small Cancer Drug Trial Sees Tumors Disappear in 100 Percent of Patients." The Washington Post, WP Company, 9 June 2022, https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/06/08/cancer-drug-trial/.

Livemint. "Too Soon to Say We Found Cancer Cure: Experts." Mint, 11 June 2022, https://www.livemint.com/news/india/too-soon-to-say-we-found-cancer-cure-experts-on-whether-therapy-is-conducive-to-indian-conditions-11654962067794.html.

Sanoff, Hanna K. "Improving Treatment Approaches for Rectal Cancer." New England Journal of Medicine, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1056/nejme2204282.


DO NOT take this blog post as medical advice. If you have cancer, please talk to a medical expert before taking any action.