No chemo, no radiation, no surgery: an immunotherapy clears a kind of rectal cancer

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved Jemperli (dostarlimab) as the first and only immunotherapy for adults with a genetically defined kind of locally advanced rectal cancer — tumours marked MSI-H or dMMR, roughly 3% of cases. In the AZUR-1 trial behind the approval, 68% of evaluable patients had a complete response sustained at 12 months, 76% had no detectable cancer a year or more after treatment, and no responder has seen the disease return after more than two years of follow-up. For these patients, treatment can mean skipping chemotherapy, radiation and major surgery entirely.

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