According to results from a trial conducted by five hospitals across the United Kingdom, doctors have discovered a new immunotherapy drug called ‘durvalumab’ that could do much more than just fight certain types of cancers in the lower part of the bowel.

This new treatment (which is given with radiotherapy and chemotherapy) has been found to destroy–not just suppress–cancers in the lower part of the bowel, removing the need for an operation in some patients.

This is huge news for rectal cancer patients, as surgery for this type of cancer often results in a ‘stoma’, which is a pouch that collects waste products outside of the body.

This surgery brings many risks, from infection to skin irritation and other problems.

An immunotherapy drug known as ‘Durvalumab’ can destroy cancer cells in the lower bowel. Credit: CDC/Unsplash

The trial, which has 42 patients at five different hospitals in the UK, has not published a full set of findings. However, experts say the early results are promising.

One patient who benefited from this treatment was 75-year-old Paul Cusick, who was diagnosed with rectal cancer in January this year. The trial, called PRIME-RT, entails 12 weeks of radiotherapy, chemotherapy and ‘durvalumab’ infusions.

The doctors wished to decrease the tumour size before surgery, but by June, Paul’s scans showed no trace of cancer.

Professor Mark Saunders, a consultant clinical oncologist at The Christie Hospital in Manchester–which is running the trial–said, ‘We’ve had quite a number of patients who now don’t need surgery, which is very promising, but we have to follow them up for a little while longer.’

Another study from last year has proven that ‘durvalumab’ can destroy rectal tumours in patients with a specific type of cancer.

Additionally, the drug has been used as a treatment for certain types of lung cancer and has shown promise in the treatment of endometrial and stomach cancers.

As for Paul, he’s looking forward to returning to work later this year and expressed: ‘I’ve been healthy all my life, so getting the diagnosis was a real shock. I’m obviously delighted that the cancer appears to have completely disappeared, and I don’t have to have an operation.’

‘I didn’t really have any serious side-effects, so the experience has been really good,’ he added.

Key Takeaways

• A new immunotherapy drug, ‘durvalumab’, could spare some bowel cancer patients from undergoing life-altering surgery.
  
• In the trial where 42 patients enrolled, the drug was effective, showing promising early results.
  
• Combined with radiotherapy and chemotherapy, ‘durvalumab’ can eliminate cancers in the lower part of the bowel, eliminating the need for surgery.
  
• The procedure's effectiveness can be seen in the case of Paul Cusick, a 75-year-old patient diagnosed with rectal cancer whose tumour disappeared completely after being treated with this therapy.
  

What do you think of this story, members? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

 

[Suzanne rose]

I think so much research needs to be done to find a cure for cancer or an easier way of dealing with it.

I think this is a great start .

I know they need alot of money for research but through research it will save thousands of lives.

Maybe the government needs to give more money to this and less money sent overseas

 

[starrysnan]

I am excited to see the developments in the treatment of this type of cancer. Having gone through a major operation and chemotherapy for this type of cancer I am happy to be still here and well 16 years later. Early intervention is the key because often there are very few symptoms.

 

[Colette 3799]

It sounds wonderful. I hope it continues to be effective

 

[Eneri]

According to results from a trial conducted by five hospitals across the United Kingdom, doctors have discovered a new immunotherapy drug called ‘durvalumab’ that could do much more than just fight certain types of cancers in the lower part of the bowel.

This new treatment (which is given with radiotherapy and chemotherapy) has been found to destroy–not just suppress–cancers in the lower part of the bowel, removing the need for an operation in some patients.

This is huge news for rectal cancer patients, as surgery for this type of cancer often results in a ‘stoma’, which is a pouch that collects waste products outside of the body.

This surgery brings many risks, from infection to skin irritation and other problems.

View attachment 27952

An immunotherapy drug known as ‘Durvalumab’ can destroy cancer cells in the lower bowel. Credit: CDC/Unsplash

The trial, which has 42 patients at five different hospitals in the UK, has not published a full set of findings. However, experts say the early results are promising.

One patient who benefited from this treatment was 75-year-old Paul Cusick, who was diagnosed with rectal cancer in January this year. The trial, called PRIME-RT, entails 12 weeks of radiotherapy, chemotherapy and ‘durvalumab’ infusions.

The doctors wished to decrease the tumour size before surgery, but by June, Paul’s scans showed no trace of cancer.

Professor Mark Saunders, a consultant clinical oncologist at The Christie Hospital in Manchester–which is running the trial–said, ‘We’ve had quite a number of patients who now don’t need surgery, which is very promising, but we have to follow them up for a little while longer.’

Another study from last year has proven that ‘durvalumab’ can destroy rectal tumours in patients with a specific type of cancer.

Additionally, the drug has been used as a treatment for certain types of lung cancer and has shown promise in the treatment of endometrial and stomach cancers.

As for Paul, he’s looking forward to returning to work later this year and expressed: ‘I’ve been healthy all my life, so getting the diagnosis was a real shock. I’m obviously delighted that the cancer appears to have completely disappeared, and I don’t have to have an operation.’

‘I didn’t really have any serious side-effects, so the experience has been really good,’ he added.

Key Takeaways

• A new immunotherapy drug, ‘durvalumab’, could spare some bowel cancer patients from undergoing life-altering surgery.
• In the trial where 42 patients enrolled, the drug was effective, showing promising early results.
• Combined with radiotherapy and chemotherapy, ‘durvalumab’ can eliminate cancers in the lower part of the bowel, eliminating the need for surgery.
• The procedure's effectiveness can be seen in the case of Paul Cusick, a 75-year-old patient diagnosed with rectal cancer whose tumour disappeared completely after being treated with this therapy.

What do you think of this story, members? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

I was on Durvalumab for a year for inoperable stage 3 lung cancer , I still get scans every 6 months but I am nearly 4 years free in the new year .

 

[Pink lion]

I can't post it here, but I received an evidence-based text on the eradication of bowel cancer yesterday.

Basically, wash and freeze an organic lemon, then grate the entire thing and sprinkle over everything from ice-cream dishes, to roast and aside from the zest, it is reportedly the best for a very wide variety of cancers, it has been trialed by companies for years and suppressed due to no monetary gain.

I'm going to pick up a grater to shave my lemon, in town tomorrow.

 

[Gsr]

Any treatment that can help in the battle against any type of cancer is great news. It is a shame that some of the treatments take years of testing before they become readily available. I’m sure most cancer patients would be happy to try anything new regardless of the testing it has been through, after all they would have nothing to lose.

 

[Pink lion]

Do any Sydney members especially remember this? I can quite vividly recall, back around the time when the aids epidemic was at its peak, watching a home video broadcast on either the ABC or sbs. It was Filmed in Balmain, I think.

Anyway, the really sick guy being interviewed by his friend before it, looked like he'd been to Auschwitz, he looked really Baad and definitely looked so frail that he was in his last days on Earth.

The video showed him being laid down carefully on a hospital like bed that had a large blood bottle to the left of him and the same sized empty one to the right. It was all connected, a long glass tube with a heating element (a worm) inside it ran across the top of the bed head and he lay in the middle.

Evidently, they drained blood out of his system, and sent it to the right then up the top, where the infected blood was heated past, where all bacteria can live, and then it was cooled down and put back into the other bottle on his left and then back into him at his healthy body temperature.

The video was in three parts, the second part was about two -three days later, as they did it slowly and there were people in white coats, walking around checking the bottles etc. The third video section was about two days after that, with the guy formally at deaths door now looking and sounding fully present and alert, like a CEO of a high-class American health retreat. The video showed him sitting back in a chair, with a white t-shirt on, while dressed in a business suit and sandshoes.

The government confiscated all equipment upon advice from the medical fraternity, who wanted him imprisoned for undergoing a non-approved medical procedure. I never saw or ever heard of this invention ever again.

However, I still remember this very vital looking man as he opened his arms wide to the camera and said "everything's better, no ailments at all, anywhere, look at my skin, I feel fantastic.' because I saw him, before he did that to himself.

He wasn't a qualified doctor, so his opinion didn't count, after all billions of dollars are spent on medicines every year and this Australian upstart comes along with his own invention and fixes himself at home for bugger all....

I don't think so, says the law. Thousands of people must have watched the program though because yaaaay! they cracked it. Just heat up the blood, kill all the parasites and put your own blood back and your good to go in about five-six days, seems pretty logical to me.

I'm no highly qualified doctor, I was just a guy watching another guy cure himself at home, on the television like thousands of others must have seen.

Yep, a true story, seen with my own baby blue eyes, about twenty years back.