A new antibody helps more people with hard-to-treat bowel cancer reach one year

For people whose bowel cancer has spread and stopped responding to treatment, options run out quickly. In Dijon and cancer centres across France, researchers have now reported final results from TASKIN, a randomised Phase II trial funded by the French National Cancer Institute. Adding a new antibody drug, vilamakitug — which blocks IL-1α, a signal that helps tumours grow — to standard chemotherapy meant 49 of 80 patients (61.3%) were alive at 12 months, clearing the trial's pre-set bar for success, compared with 55.7% on chemotherapy alone. In an exploratory look at patients whose tumours began on the right side of the bowel, a historically harder-to-treat group, the risk of death was 62% lower with the antibody. It is Phase II evidence, not a finished treatment — but it gives a difficult cancer a clear next direction.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: tech innovation