A new immunotherapy option for colon cancer cuts the risk of return by half

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Roche's Tecentriq (atezolizumab) plus chemotherapy, given after surgery, for stage III colon cancer whose tumours carry a particular genetic signature (dMMR). In a 712-patient trial, the immunotherapy cut the risk of the cancer coming back or the patient dying by 50 percent — the first immune-based regimen ever approved for this setting, and Tecentriq's 12th U.S. indication.