Bowel cancer trial sees all patients disease-free in huge breakthrough

A bowel cancer trial has seen all participants emerge cancer-free, indicating “extremely positive” development for treatment.

Bowel cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the UK, with cases in under-50s seeing a rise in recent years. Thanks to campaigners like Dame Deborah James, more people are having bowel cancer checks – important, as chances of survival are greater when caught early.

When caught in the early stages, 90 per cent of those treated with stage one bowel cancer will survive for five or more years. The figure falls to 65 per cent at stage three, and to 10 per cent at stage four.

In a trial, 32 patients from five hospitals around the UK, who had stage two or three bowel cancer and a certain genetic profile, were recruited by experts at University College London Hospitals (UCLH).

In the UK, between 10 and 15 per cent of patients with stage two or three bowel cancer had this particular genetic makeup, comprising around 2,000-3,000 cases per year.

Instead of chemotherapy before surgery, the 32 participants were given the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab for nine weeks prior to surgery, while being monitored.

The results were frankly staggering. They indicated that 59 per cent of patients were left with no sign of cancer after being treated with the drug pembrolizumab. The remaining 41 per cent of patients had any remaining cancer removed during surgery.

Following the trial, all of its participants were cancer-free and remained so months on from their treatment. With the standard treatment of chemotherapy and surgery given to similar patients, the numbers that are cancer-free at the end stand at less than 5 per cent.

UCLH consultant medical oncologist and chief investigator of the trial, Dr Kai-Keen Shiu, said: “Our results indicate that pembrolizumab is a safe and highly effective treatment to improve outcomes in patients with high-risk bowel cancers, increasing the chances of curing the disease at an early stage.

“We need to wait to see whether the patients in our trial remain cancer-free over a longer period of time, but initial indications are extremely positive.”

Patient Darren Evans, 47, from Cambridgeshire, said: “The immune therapy I received before surgery shrunk my tumour from around the size of a golf ball, down to almost nothing. The surgery then removed what was left of the tumour.

“The therapy did an incredible job at reducing the tumour size, all in around the space of six weeks, with very minimal side effects. I’m really happy I was part of the trial and received the therapy, which I hope will keep the cancer away.”

While experts stress more trials and research need to be done, the results undoubtedly hold promise for the future of bowel cancer treatment.

Sign up for our free indy100 weekly newsletter

How to join the indy100's free WhatsApp channel

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings