Six weeks of treatment, and for 72% of patients the colon cancer was simply gone at surgery

At the Netherlands Cancer Institute, doctors tried giving the immune system its chance early — while the tumour was still in place. In the Phase 2 NEOASIS study, people with a specific type of locally advanced colon cancer (called dMMR) received just six weeks of two immunotherapy drugs, BOT and BAL, before surgery. When surgeons operated, 72% had no cancer remaining at all. Side effects were mostly mild, and one patient whose rectal tumour vanished completely chose to keep their rectum, still clear seven months later. It is early and the group was small — but weeks of treatment instead of months is a future worth chasing.

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