This danish article is referring to the - of late - much referred to trial (Glaxo Smith Kline Dostarlimab) with 18 patients treated for rectal cancer, of which 14 has remissioned and 4 are "on their way".
Let me translate it, because in its essense this really just pays tribute to where DCVax-L is today. :
A small american trial seems to deliver good news in the fight against cancer.
After 6 months of experimental treatment, the tumors disappeared from all 12 patients having been diagnosed with rectal cancer type II or III, who had participated in the trial before results were publicised.
There is - in the trial - a 100% success rate.
Chief physicial on Oncology Clinic at Rigshospitalet Camilla Qvortrup and chairman for Danish Colorectal Cancer Group says, "it is a very promising treatment".
International scientist working with rectal cancer, have also paid tribute to the trial, that was announced at the ASCO cancer conferencer. The presentation received standing ovations.
The trial had 18 patients, where 14 has ended their participation and experienced that their cancer disappeared. The last four patients in the trial is still undergoint treatments, but as of now, seems to have same promising outlook.
All of the patients in the trial shared the same genetical change in their rectal cancer, called dMMR.
About 1200 danes gets diagnosed with rectal cancer each year.
Of them 10% has this genetical change and will therefore benefit of this new treatment.
Today, patients with rectal cancer type II and III gets treated with operation and often with chemotherapy and radiation. But standard of care (SOC), can perhaps be different in the future, for this particular sub group of patients.
The current SOC har sideeffects, since they affect the functions of the rectum. Patients with the new treatment, avoids the operation and also the sideeffects, Camilla Qvortrup explains.
[... doesn't matter inbetween and I have removed that part]
Camilla Qvortrup explains, that immune therapy has revolutioned treatments towards cancer the later years, but has not had the same effect on rectal cancer.
"This is the first time, we experience such efficacy with rectal cancer with immune therapy", the chief physician says.
In the study the 12 patients was treated over a 6 months periods, every third week with a medication called Dostarlimab. A new medication, designed to block a certain specific cancer cell protein, that can help the immune system to block its cancer combative response. [...me: A PD1 checkpoint inhibitor, which we all know DCVax-L will work excellent with, according to the UCLA SPORE 1 project, the combo trial with Keytruda and DCVax-L]
After the treatment the patients were following for at least 6 months and after 6 months, the scans didn't show any signs of cancer.
When the trial was announced, the patients had been followed for up to 25 months. None of the patients did received chemo or surgery and none had any relapse or progression. No sideeffects either.
There are challenges though about the new study and the treatment is not ready to become SOC, Camilla Qvortrup states. But she believes, it will happen in the future.
A big challenge ved the trial is, that even though the patients had a great diverisity, age wise among other things, it was a very little group of people, who got tested.
And the first patients still has to be observed for years, to secure, at the tumors do not reappear again or has moved to other parts in the body.
The results also only concert the 10%, carrying this specific genetical change and it is a challenge when getting the treatment approved Camilla Qvortrup says.
"Cancer treatment is becoming more and more personally and targeted. But this form of personally medication is challenging how we in the future will approve medicine. How do we secure, that this knowledge that forms the basis for approval to become SOC, will be large enough, when we are working with so small groups of people?", asks Camilla Qvortrup.
In Denmark we are working on starting up studies looking like the american. It will be national, so that all danish centers, that are treating rectal cancer, can contribute with patients.
1) A subgroup of 10% of all rectal cancer patients 2) Dostarlimab = PD1 checkpoint inhibitor 3) The trial small, many years forwards 4) DCVax-L works alone on all solid tumors 5) DCVax-L works even better with PD1 inhibitors as shown in the UCLA Spore 1 project, combo trial with Keytruda
Camilla Qvortrup are asking questions for the challenges to get immune-therapy trials approved, that NWBO has already answered, by having a trial with 331 persons over 15 year and being capable to scale the production of DCVax-L with ease to now 12.000 patients a year.
If people rejoiced this much at ASCO about the above, they will go absolutely mental, when it becomes clear for everyone to see, how far DCVax-L is now.
No challengers to SOC. DCVax-L will become the secret sauce for so many PD1 inhibitors .... or ... one big pharma will become extremely dominant during the next 10 years.
