Although tested only in a small clinical trial a new drug raises hopes for cancer patients.
A small clinical trial with 18 patients, who took the drug Dostarlimab for about six months, has raised high hopes among doctors and cancer patients. According to Dr. Luis A. Diaz J. of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York in all 18 patients the tumors eventually disappeared. He said this was “the first time in the history of cancer”.
Although the test in terms of the number of patients was very small, it has raised hopes that cancer can be removed from a patient’s body without the need for chemotherapy or surgery.
Patients who participated in the trial with Dostarlimab had previously undergone various treatments but had failed to recover. Patients reported little or no side effects from this medication.
Patient during a chemotherapy session
The treatment identifies the cancer cells , allowing the body’s immune system to destroy them naturally.
Some experts say more evidence is needed. “What I would really like to do is a bigger test, in which this drug is used in a much more diverse environment to understand what the real and true response rate to the medication will be. “Dr. Hanna Sanoff from the University of North Carolina, who was not involved in the study, told NPR.
According to the World Health Organization, cancer causes about 10 million deaths a year.