- Half of patients with this type of bowel cancer will require a stoma after surgery
- Drug Durvalumb has been successful in trials, rendering surgery unnecessary
A groundbreaking immunotherapy drug has the potential to eliminate the need for surgery in certain bowel cancer patients, according to the results of a recent trial.
Durvalumab, when combined with radiotherapy and chemotherapy, has shown great promise in eradicating cancers in the lower part of the bowel, making surgery unnecessary.
Typically, rectal cancer patients—about half of them—undergo surgery that results in the creation of a stoma, a pouch that collects waste products outside the body. This procedure exposes patients to risks of infection, skin irritation, and other embarrassing issues.
However, durvalumab has demonstrated such effectiveness in some patients that surgery is no longer needed.
When given with radiotherapy and chemotherapy, durvalumab can destroy cancers in the lower part of the bowel – removing the need for an operation
The trial, conducted at five hospitals across the UK with 42 patients, has not yet released its full set of findings. However, early results are promising.
One patient who benefited from the treatment is Paul Cusick, a 75-year-old diagnosed with rectal cancer in January. He participated in the PRIME-RT trial and received radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and durvalumab, which was administered as a monthly infusion for 12 weeks.
Doctors aimed to shrink the tumor before surgery to facilitate its removal, but scans in June revealed no evidence of cancer.
Professor Mark Saunders, a consultant clinical oncologist at The Christie hospital in Manchester and the lead investigator of the trial, commented, “We’ve had a significant
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