- A groundbreaking new treatment regime for bowel cancer, involving immunotherapy before surgery, has shown remarkable success with zero relapses observed in patients after 33 months.
- The NEOPRISM-CRC trial, led by University College London (UCL) and UCLH, found that 59 per cent of patients exhibited no signs of disease following pembrolizumab treatment and subsequent surgery.
- This innovative approach significantly reduces the need for chemotherapy and stands in stark contrast to standard treatment, where approximately a quarter of patients typically experience cancer recurrence within three years.
- The study focused on 32 patients with stage two or three bowel cancer who possess a specific genetic profile (MMR deficient/MSI-high), representing 10-15 per cent of such cases in the UK.
- Researchers are optimistic that this “highly effective” treatment, which uses the drug pembrolizumab for up to nine weeks pre-operatively, could be extended to a broader range of bowel cancer patients.
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