This alternative to chemo and surgery could successfully treat cancer, study suggests

New cancer research pioneered by Memorial Sloan Kettering points to a strong alternative to chemotherapy, surgery, and radiation for some forms of cancer.Nearly 80% of patients who suffered from a variety of cancer types were successfully treated with only immunotherapy, according to a new study published in The New England Journal of Medicine.The immunotherapy protocol successfully treated 100% of rectal cancer patients involved in the trial.“My husband, Tommy, and I were preparing for the worst,” recalled Maureen Sideris, who was diagnosed with gastroesophageal junction cancer in 2022 and subsequently became a participant in the trial.“After being treated with only immunotherapy, I had no evidence of cancer and didn’t have to undergo surgery, chemo, or radiation,” she said in an MSK press release.“I felt like I won the lottery!”Dr.

Andrea Cercek, a gastrointestinal oncologist, oversaw the research along with fellow gastrointestinal oncologist Dr.Luiz Diaz. The pair sought to develop this approach in part due to the negative impacts of traditional treatment, according to the release.“Using the standard-of-care treatment of surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy to treat rectal cancer is effective,” Cercek said.“But the treatments can leave people infertile and severely affect bowel, urinary, and sexual functions, as well as other aspects of daily life.”Participants in the trial were all patients with tumors ranging from stage 1 to stage 3, meaning the tumors had not yet spread, the release indicated.The tumors also had a genetic mutation called mismatch repair-deficient (MMRd), which makes them particularly vulnerable to a type of immunotherapy called “checkpoint inhibitors.”This therapy “unmasks” tumor cells, MSK stated, making it easier for the patient’s own immune system to recognize and kill cancer cells.The first clinical trial testing the therapy started with only 18 patients, all of whom had rectal cancer.“We knew there...