Amazing Cancer Treatment News

[Tiberius]

 

Quote

 

To be sure, the trial — led by doctors at Memorial Sloan Kettering and backed by drug maker GlaxoSmithKline — has only completed treatment of 12 patients, with a specific cancer in its early stages and with a rare mutation as well.

But the results, reported Sunday in the New England Journal of Medicine and the New York Times, were still striking enough to prompt multiple physicians to tell the paper they were believed to be unprecedented.

According to the NEJM paper and the Times report, all 12 patients had rectal cancer that had not spread beyond the local area, and their tumors all exhibited a mutation affecting the ability of cells to repair damage to DNA.

After being treated with the drug, dostarlimab, all 12 are now in complete remission, with no surgery or chemotherapy, no severe side effects — and no trace of cancer whatsoever anywhere in their body.

 

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/health/nyc-cancer-trial-delivers-unheard-of-result-complete-remission-for-everyone/3721476/

[SoTier]

I read the abstract (summary) of the NEJM article, and it seems that the key was that the mutation in the cancer cells was the key because the cancer cells couldn't recover after the antibodies in the drug altered their DNA.  Researchers had hypothesized that this would happen but this is the first example of the idea actually working --- and working quite spectacularly.

 

This is a small step, but proving that this kind of drug therapy is effective on one type of cancer opens the door to research on how this same type of therapy can be used on other kinds of cancers.

[Nextmanup]

As medical science continues to increase in sophistication, I have no doubt that cancer will be figured out.

Don't ask me to tell you when that will be.

 

But it will be figured out eventually.

 

 

[Doc]

5 hours ago, Nextmanup said:

As medical science continues to increase in sophistication, I have no doubt that cancer will be figured out.

Don't ask me to tell you when that will be.

 

But it will be figured out eventually.

 

And then the zombie apocalypse will happen..

Edited June 10, 2022 by Doc

[Greg S]

11 minutes ago, Nextmanup said:

As medical science continues to increase in sophistication, I have no doubt that cancer will be figured out.

Don't ask me to tell you when that will be.

 

But it will be figured out eventually.

 

 

 

Treatments for cancer have come a long way but I don't know if cancer will be figured out completely. At least not in our lifetimes. Take Pancreatic cancer for example, that is one of the worst ones to get as far as surviving long term. Sadly that one is basically a death sentence. But it is nice to see more and more people living longer and beating some types of cancer. "F" cancer.

[Warcodered]

1 hour ago, Doc said:

 

And then the zombies apocalypse will happen..

and probably be completely underwhelming.

[Augie]

1 hour ago, Greg S said:

 

Treatments for cancer have come a long way but I don't know if cancer will be figured out completely. At least not in our lifetimes. Take Pancreatic cancer for example, that is one of the worst ones to get as far as surviving long term. Sadly that one is basically a death sentence. But it is nice to see more and more people living longer and beating some types of cancer. "F" cancer.

 

My wife was having some serious health issues a few years ago. Serious abdominal pain. At one point they did an emergency appendectomy only to say afterwards “well, we’ll know next time it’s not the appendix.”  During testing they found something abnormal and concerning with her pancreas and referred her to an oncologist……who could’t see her for like 3-4 months. Seriously? THAT is not acceptable! 

 

She lucked into one of the top specialists in the country. Our SIL is an OB/GYN about 3 hours away and she wanted to come the day of surgery just to meet this guy. He’s a rock star in that world. My wife mentioned the pancreas abnormality in the first visit. He asked how long ago they noticed it and she told him 6-9 months prior. His response was “no, that’s not it. If it was the pancreas you’d be dead by now”. 

 

He went on to remove several degenerative fibroids the size of tennis balls and some other stuff. He changed our lives! It was so simple to him I had to wonder how all the other doctors before him didn’t immediately figure that out. 

[Big Turk]

2 hours ago, Doc said:

 

And then the zombies apocalypse will happen..

 

Walking dead style?

[Wacka]

8 hours ago, SoTier said:

I read the abstract (summary) of the NEJM article, and it seems that the key was that the mutation in the cancer cells was the key because the cancer cells couldn't recover after the antibodies in the drug altered their DNA.  Researchers had hypothesized that this would happen but this is the first example of the idea actually working --- and working quite spectacularly.

 

This is a small step, but proving that this kind of drug therapy is effective on one type of cancer opens the door to research on how this same type of therapy can be used on other kinds of cancers.

Haven't read the article yet, but from your recap, I think you got something incorrect. The antibodies in the therapy would not alter the cancer cells DNA. The antibodies trigger the patient's immune system to attack the cancer cells as foreign. The cancer's cells existing mutations could  not allow the cancer to mutate further and escape detection by the immune system. How long  have the patients been free of  recurrences? 

Seems promising, but having a background in  DNA replication,  I've seen many reports of a "cure" that didn't pan out.

Cancer treatment has come a long way but each cancer is basically a different type of disease.My godmother died from pancreatic cancer. She lasted 2.5 years after diagnosis. The doctor gave her an experimental drug that he said wouldn't cure  her, but would prolong her life for a while.  My dad died >30 years ago from small-cell lung carcinoma.  There was no cure and  survival was 5-10 % with surgery. It couldn't be operated on because of location and chemo slowed it down a few months. I am seeing ads on TVnow of Optivo and another drug  that says they will prolong the life of people with this cancer.

[PromoTheRobot]

9 hours ago, SoTier said:

I read the abstract (summary) of the NEJM article, and it seems that the key was that the mutation in the cancer cells was the key because the cancer cells couldn't recover after the antibodies in the drug altered their DNA.  Researchers had hypothesized that this would happen but this is the first example of the idea actually working --- and working quite spectacularly.

 

This is a small step, but proving that this kind of drug therapy is effective on one type of cancer opens the door to research on how this same type of therapy can be used on other kinds of cancers.

 

I saw a documentary on PBS about Jim Allison, a researcher who followed his hunch that cancer was treatable as an immune response. Is this drug related to his work?

 

https://www.pbs.org/video/wondrous-t-cell-jim-allison-breakthrough-lrgpob/

2 hours ago, Augie said:

 

My wife was having some serious health issues a few years ago. Serious abdominal pain. At one point they did an emergency appendectomy only to say afterwards “well, we’ll know next time it’s not the appendix.”  During testing they found something abnormal and concerning with her pancreas and referred her to an oncologist……who could’t see her for like 3-4 months. Seriously? THAT is not acceptable! 

 

She lucked into one of the top specialists in the country. Our SIL is an OB/GYN about 3 hours away and she wanted to come the day of surgery just to meet this guy. He’s a rock star in that world. My wife mentioned the pancreas abnormality in the first visit. He asked how long ago they noticed it and she told him 6-9 months prior. His response was “no, that’s not it. If it was the pancreas you’d be dead by now”. 

 

He went on to remove several degenerative fibroids the size of tennis balls and some other stuff. He changed our lives! It was so simple to him I had to wonder how all the other doctors before him didn’t immediately figure that out. 

 

I had an inner ear issue that was missed by three ENTs over several years. The 4th one took one look in my ear and booked me for surgery. Caught it in time but I lost much of my hearing on one side needlessly.

[Doc]

3 hours ago, Big Turk said:

Walking dead style?

That hasn’t ended yet so I don’t know what the ideology of it was, but I’m thinking “I Am Legend.” 

[NoSaint]

4 hours ago, PromoTheRobot said:

 

I saw a documentary on PBS about Jim Allison, a researcher who followed his hunch that cancer was treatable as an immune response. Is this drug related to his work?

 

https://www.pbs.org/video/wondrous-t-cell-jim-allison-breakthrough-lrgpob/

 

I had an inner ear issue that was missed by three ENTs over several years. The 4th one took one look in my ear and booked me for surgery. Caught it in time but I lost much of my hearing on one side needlessly.

In glasses half full, you saved some hearing miraculously 

[BuffaloBud]

https://cancer.osu.edu/for-cancer-researchers/research/research-institutes-and-centers/pelotonia-institute-for-immuno-oncology

 

This is one of the reasons why I ride my bike (I'll take the "I hate cyclists" crap) 100 miles and raise funds for cancer research each year.

[SoTier]

12 hours ago, Wacka said:

Haven't read the article yet, but from your recap, I think you got something incorrect. The antibodies in the therapy would not alter the cancer cells DNA. The antibodies trigger the patient's immune system to attack the cancer cells as foreign. The cancer's cells existing mutations could  not allow the cancer to mutate further and escape detection by the immune system. How long  have the patients been free of  recurrences? 

Seems promising, but having a background in  DNA replication,  I've seen many reports of a "cure" that didn't pan out.

Cancer treatment has come a long way but each cancer is basically a different type of disease.My godmother died from pancreatic cancer. She lasted 2.5 years after diagnosis. The doctor gave her an experimental drug that he said wouldn't cure  her, but would prolong her life for a while.  My dad died >30 years ago from small-cell lung carcinoma.  There was no cure and  survival was 5-10 % with surgery. It couldn't be operated on because of location and chemo slowed it down a few months. I am seeing ads on TVnow of Optivo and another drug  that says they will prolong the life of people with this cancer.

 

I could have misunderstood the summary; I'm a long, long time away from college biology!  As I understood the extract,the basis of this drug therapy was that the cancer had a mutation that made it hard/harder for the cancer cells' to repair altered/damaged DNA.   The drug  somehow facilitated damage to the cancer cells which resulted in the cancer being "cured".   

 

I'm not sure that the extract gave the length of time that the patients have been cancer free, but I don't think that cancer survivors are ever considered "cured" the way someone would be cured of an infection.   I think that the promise of this drug therapy is that it shows that the idea of attacking the DNA of cancer cells can be effective.

 

A friend of mine who is very well educated but is totally a non-scientific/non-technological person who generally views things through the prism of "how much it costs" was complaining recently about the billions that have been spent on cancer research without finding "a cure".   I tried explaining to her that cancer isn't a single disease but a myriad of diseases with many variations even within the same type but I don't think she accepted that idea.  She just saw billions of dollars going to fight "cancer" with apparently limited success rather than a very broad spectrum of success depending upon the specific type of cancer.  I think that a lot of people who aren't particularly interested in science/medicine and/or have not been personally impacted by cancer (which is the case of my friend) simply don't understand that cancer isn't a single disease, so they get frustrated that it's not already "cured" despite all the resources devoted to it.

 

 

 

Edited June 10, 2022 by SoTier

[BillsFan4]

18 hours ago, Greg S said:

 

Treatments for cancer have come a long way but I don't know if cancer will be figured out completely. At least not in our lifetimes. Take Pancreatic cancer for example, that is one of the worst ones to get as far as surviving long term. Sadly that one is basically a death sentence. But it is nice to see more and more people living longer and beating some types of cancer. "F" cancer.

My youngest aunt just died from pancreatic cancer 2 days ago. 😢 she was only in her early 50’s.

[Greg S]

14 minutes ago, BillsFan4 said:

My youngest aunt just died from pancreatic cancer 2 days ago. 😢 she was only in her early 50’s.

 

Sorry to hear that. Condolences to you and your family.

[BillsFan4]

1 hour ago, Greg S said:

 

Sorry to hear that. Condolences to you and your family.

Thank you. I appreciate it.

[ICanSleepWhenI'mDead]

5 hours ago, SoTier said:

 

I'm not sure that the extract gave the length of time that the patients have been cancer free, but I don't think that cancer survivors are ever considered "cured" the way someone would be cured of an infection.  

 

Looks like 2 years, per details in this article:

 

From https://www.livescience.com/remission-in-small-rectal-cancer-trial :

 

"The trial participants received 500 milligrams of dostarlimab every three weeks for six months. The initial expectation was that, following this treatment, most of the patients would still need to undergo the standard combination of chemotherapy, radiation therapy and potentially surgery. But instead, all 12 patients' cancers completely cleared on dostarlimab alone. Their tumors were undetectable on physical exam, endoscopy, PET and MRI scans. About a year later, none of the patients required further treatment and none of their cancers had grown back, the team wrote in their report.

Even now, more than two years later, "no patients have required chemoradiation or surgery, and no cases of progression or recurrence have been noted during follow-up," according to a statement (opens in new tab) from MSK."

[Draconator]

My wife had 3 battles with cancer in 2018-2019 within a 14 month period. A year and a half of treatments. (3 rounds of chemo, 3 surgeries, 2 rounds of radiation).

 

The last surgery was her most major, where they removed the shrunken tumor after a heavy round of chemo from her neck, removed her neck muscle and dead skin from the tumor (came through her skin), flipped her pectoral muscle into her neck, and a skin graft from her thigh to her neck to replace the dead skin. Dr. Loree at ECMC (Jim Kelly and Rick Jeneratte's doctor) had to cut a major nerve in her shoulder to remove the neck muscle.

 

She is now on a lifetime regimine of 2400 mg daily of Gabapentin (nerve blocker) and physical therapy for an undetermined amount of time. Now don't get me wrong, we're both extremely thankful that she is alive and in remission for almost 3 years, but cancer is no joke, and the side effects from cancer treatments are absolutely brutal. Seeing this study, and by Sloan Kettering which was wonderful to us when we visited them for a 2nd opinion, is super hopeful and my wish is those who can be treated with this drug doesn't experience the side effects of traditional cancer treatments.