Such good news in oncology is a priori unheard of.
Immunotherapy treatment alone cured the fourteen patients in a clinical trial conducted by the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York.
The results, published in the
New England journal of Medicine (NEJM)
and presented at the American Congress of Oncology in Chicago a few days ago, are as spectacular as they are heartening: six to twenty-five months after stopping their therapy, the patients, suffering from a special form of cancer of the rectum, no longer show any trace of tumour.
"This is a big step forward for patients
," said Dr. Luis Diaz, co-author of the study.
Currently, the standard treatment for rectal cancers without metastases consists of chemotherapy and radiotherapy to reduce the size of the tumor, followed by surgery.
The after-effects of the operation can be difficult for the patients to live with, with repercussions on the functioning…
This article is for subscribers only.
You have 81% left to discover.
Pushing back the limits of science is also freedom.
Keep reading your article for €0.99 for the first month
I ENJOY IT
Already subscribed?
Login
