Several patients who volunteered as subjects in the drug trial.
For decades, scientists and doctors have striven for a cure.
Everyday people have run, walked, biked, and boated for a cure.
Several patients who volunteered as subjects in the drug trial. (Photo: screenshot from a video byMemorial Sloan Kettering)
Any victory in the war against cancer is worth celebrating.
Would it be more effective than using this drug treatment in later stages?
Dr. Andrea Cercek and Dr. Luis A. Diaz Jr. wanted to find out.
This means the cancer is largely still confined to one area rather than spread out.
Eventually, they found a company that was willing to take the risk.
Tesaro, which was later bought by GlaxoSmithKline, agreed to fund the small study.
The doctors then recruited cancer patients to join the study.
They first found Sascha Roth, an otherwise healthy 38-year-old who had recently been diagnosed with a rectal cancer.
Her particular mutation made chemotherapy a less promising treatment, so she entered the drug trial.
Others soon joined, totaling 18 individuals.
They each tookdostarlimab, a checkpoint inhibitor which helps the immune system identify and destroy cancer cells.
They took the drug (which costs about $11,000 per dose) every three weeks for six months.
The results were shocking and even historic.
While this study is not announcing a cure, it is an exciting sign for treatments to come.
