Good news about a new treatment for certain types of cancer: Immunotherapy could replace surgery

Recently, doctors and researchers presented the results of a very promising study about a new way to treat certain types of early-stage cancer. This treatment is called immunotherapy and uses a drug called dostarlimab.

What is special about this treatment?

• Helps your own body fight cancer: Immunotherapy is not like chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Instead, it “trains” your immune system (the body’s natural defense system) to recognize and attack cancer cells.
• Targets specific tumors: This treatment worked very well for patients whose tumors have a specific genetic characteristic, called “mismatch repair deficiency” (mMRD for short). Your doctor can test the tumor to see if it has this characteristic.
• May replace surgery: Until now, standard treatment for these cancers often included surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy. These can have major side effects and affect quality of life. The new study shows that, for many patients with these mMRD tumors, dostarlimab treatment might be sufficient, eliminating the need for surgery.

What did the study show?

• Complete responses to treatment: A large percentage of patients with these mMRD tumors (both rectal cancer and other types of solid cancer) who received dostarlimab before potential surgery had a “complete clinical response.” This means that after treatment, the cancer was no longer detectable on scans.
• Avoiding surgery: Very importantly, 80% of patients with early-stage (stages I-III) mMRD tumors managed to avoid surgery after six months of dostarlimab treatment.
• No further treatment needed: Patients who had a complete response to dostarlimab did not need other treatments, such as surgery or radiotherapy. This means that the affected organs could be preserved.
• Effectiveness in various cancer types: Immunotherapy with dostarlimab showed good results in various types of solid tumors that had that mMRD characteristic. For example, in early-stage rectal cancers, the complete response rate was 100%!
• Lasting results: Responses to treatment appear to be long-lasting. Even in the rare cases where the disease returned, patients responded well again to the same type of treatment.

What does this mean for you as a patient?

• A new treatment option: This study brings hope for a new treatment option that could be as effective as surgery, but without the risks and side effects of a surgical procedure.
• Decisions made with your doctor: Researchers emphasize how important it is for you, the patient, to discuss all options with your doctor. You can choose between surgery and this new treatment (if it’s suitable for your type of cancer), depending on what is most important to you and after you fully understand the risks and benefits of each option.
• Treatment based on tumor characteristics: It seems that this type of immunotherapy works well because of that specific genetic characteristic of the tumor (mMRD), regardless of the exact location in the body where the cancer appeared.

In conclusion:

These findings are considered revolutionary. They offer patients with certain types of early-stage solid tumors (those with mMRD) a chance for curative treatment without undergoing invasive surgery. This is very good news, especially for those with rectal cancer, but also for other types of cancer with the same genetic characteristic. It is important to discuss with your doctor to see if this type of treatment could be an option for you.

Source Medscape