THE colorectal cancer (or “cancer of the colon rectum”, it’s the same thing) is the third most common cancer in men and the second in women: each year, more than 43,000 new cases are diagnosed in France.
This pathology (whose environmental risk factors are increasingly well known: smoking, physical inactivity, excessive alcohol consumption or unbalanced diet) is responsible for around 17,000 deaths. annual.
Research is progressing to try to reduce this painful statistic. And precisely: a new drug today raises hope since it could completely eliminate colorectal cancer…
A complete disappearance of the cancer, even on the MRI examination
Researchers at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (in the United States) carried out a study with 18 patients with colorectal cancer: for 6 months, the volunteers were treated with dostarlimab, at a rate of one dose every 3 weeks. The results are absolutely amazing : at the end of the experiment, 100% of the participants no longer showed any trace of cancer, even on MRI examination.
“I believe this is the first time this has happened in the history of cancer.” commented Dr. Luis A. Diaz Jr., main author of this work published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
THE dostarlimab (Jemperli®) is a drug indicated for the treatment of patients with recurrent or advanced endometrial cancer: in November 2021, the High Authority for Health (HAS) however issued an unfavorable opinion on its reimbursement. In the United States, the dose of dostarlimab costs about $11,000.
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