The study, titled “PD-1 Blockade in Mismatch Repair—Deficient, Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer” was conducted among 12 rectal cancer patients, all of which had a “clinical complete response,” according to the authors, led by Dr. Andrea Cercek of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York City.

According to the CDC, aside from some kinds of skin cancer, colorectal cancer is the fourth most common cancer in men and women. It is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States.

Ocean County

In Ocean County, the age adjusted rate is 43.2 years of age in 1,958 cases between 2015 and 2019. 49.3% were male and 38.4% were female per 100,000. The Ocean County population is close to 3 million.

The break-through trial is the first in the world to completely remove the disease in every patient, in the study which was published on Sunday in the New England Journal of Medicine.

When using sophisticated diagnostic tools like magnetic resonance imaging, fludeoxyglucose F 18 injections, physical examinations, or via endoscopic evaluations, doctors have not seen any evidence of tumors among the patients.

No Signs of Cancer

The patients showed no signs of cancer during follow-ups ranging from 6 to 25 months and have not had to undergo surgery or receive radiation and chemotherapy.

“No adverse events of grade 3 or higher have been reported,” the authors noted.

The rectal cancer patients were administered dostarlimab, a monoclonal antibody, every 3 weeks for 6 months. The patients had what is known as mismatch repair-deficient stage two or three rectal adenocarcinomas cancer.

The median age of the patients enrolled was 54 years and 62 percent were women.

After taking dostarlimab, which is sold under the brand name Jemperli, no cases of progression or recurrence were reported in the patients who underwent the study. Debilitating treatments like chemotherapy, radiation, or surgery and in extreme cases, be fitted with colostomy bags are eliminated.

Dostarlimab is already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for use in the treatment of adult patients with mismatch repair-deficient recurrent or advanced solid tumors. According to Medscape, colorectal cancer is an off-label use.

According to Drugs.com, the cost of Jemperli intravenous solution (500 mg/10 mL) is around $11,201 for a supply of 10 milliliters but can be reduced by around 90% depending on insurance, prescription discount programs, and subsidies from the manufacturer, Glaxo-Smith-Kline.

The results of the study were presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology 2022 annual meeting.

“Mismatch repair-deficient, locally advanced rectal cancer was highly sensitive to single-agent PD-1 blockade,” the authors wrote in conclusion, while acknowledging that extended follow-up is needed to assess the duration of response.

Dr. Luis A. Diaz Jr. of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, an author of the paper published Sunday, told The New York Times that he believes this is the “first time this has happened in the history of cancer.”

“The implications for quality of life are substantial, especially among patients in whom standard treatment would affect child-bearing potential [and] given that the incidence of rectal cancer is rising among young adults of childbearing age, the use of PD-1 blockades to eliminate the need for chemoradiotherapy and surgery may confer a particular benefit in that age group,” the authors commented.

The study was supported by the Simon and Eve Colin Foundation, GlaxoSmithKline, Stand Up to Cancer, Swim Across America, and the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health.

Around one-third of the 145,000 cases of colorectal cancers diagnosed each year are found in the rectum, according to the Cancer Treatment Centers of America, and the risk of this specific type of cancer increases with age, although men are typically at a higher risk than women.