A new treatment has cured all rectal cancer patients in a clinical trial. An unprecedented success, but in a rare form of the disease.
- Before 5 years, we do not speak of cure, but of remission.
- The rectum is located at the end of the large intestine, between the anus and the colon.
In medicine, very good news does not come often. The one that comes to us from the United States is exceptional. Rectal cancer is a terrible cancer. In a clinical trial conducted on Dostarlimab, one of these new drugs that change the prognosis of certain cancers, the tumor had completely disappeared after 6 months. The results were published on June 5, in the New England of Medicinea leading American journal.
An exceptional result
All patients… An exceptional result. We must remember this rate of 100% as one of the big news of recent months. One of the leaders of the study even declared: “We have, in the memory of oncologists, never obtained such a result in the history of our specialty”.
An exceptional result, indeed, but that needs to be tempered a little. First, there are only 12 patients, which is still too few to confirm the solidity of this treatment. On the other hand, it is a fairly rare form of rectal cancer, which represents only a small percentage of patients. The number of new cases of colorectal cancer (colon or rectum) in 2018 in France is estimated at around 43,500, of which slightly more than half were in men. This cancer usually occurs after the age of 50. It has a 5-year survival rate, all stages combined, of 57%.
Finally, we cannot speak of healing in digestive cancers before 5 years in theory, and in this study, we are only at 6 to 25 months of remission… So this complete response on the first 12 consecutive patients, it is certainly unheard of, but we must not yet speak of survival, but of non-use of heavy treatment (chemotherapy + radiotherapy + surgery), which is considerable progress for the quality of life of these patients . It is difficult to explain all these notions to the general public, and we prefer to speak of complete “remission” rather than “cure”.
new way
However, awakening a patient’s immunity against the tumor in order to destroy it “naturally” is the formidable new path followed for 15 years by oncologists, with immunology drugs. With many more wins than losses. And that’s what you have to remember: hope. A word that is not part of the usual vocabulary of these doctors. Also, let’s not sulk the perhaps a little excessive enthusiasm of these researchers for a few days. It is in the name of this hope that we will excuse the somewhat disproportionate media outpouring.
