New cancer drug could be available within a year

June 8, 2022 Amber Coakley US 0

In this Jan. 7, 2021, file photo, health care workers prepare the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for medical workers at a hospital in Orange, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

In this photo a health care is pictured in Orange, Calif. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

OAN NEWSROOM
UPDATED 10:17 AM PT – Wednesday, June 8, 2022

Cancer researchers have seen substantial progress in their quest to eradicate the disease. A recent clinical trial consisting of 14 rectal cancer patients found they were in complete remission with zero side effects after taking Dostarlimab.

In fact, these positive results all occurred without the use of chemotherapy. While the trial was done on rectal cancer patients, researchers believe it could be a potential treatment for many forms of cancer.

“When we give immunotherapy, it really just revs up the immune system so that it sees the cancer and gets rid of it, but what’s so remarkable here is that it completely eliminated the cancer,” explained Dr. Andrea Cercek, an oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. “The tumors just vanished in all 14 consecutive patients. Normally when this was used in rectal cancer in patients with advanced disease, that happens in about 10 percent of patients and here it’s 100 percent.”

Researchers described the results as unprecedented and have said they will have to repeat the trial in a larger capacity before they label the drug as a potential cure.