A Cancer Trial’s Unexpected Result: Remission in Every Patient

Authored by nytimes.com and submitted by Melodic_Astronaut938

It was a small trial, just 18 rectal cancer patients, every one of whom took the same drug.

But the results were astonishing. The cancer vanished in every single patient, undetectable by physical exam, endoscopy, PET scans or M.R.I. scans.

Dr. Luis A. Diaz Jr. of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, an author of a paper published Sunday in the New England Journal of Medicine describing the results, which were sponsored by the drug company GlaxoSmithKline, said he knew of no other study in which a treatment completely obliterated a cancer in every patient.

“I believe this is the first time this has happened in the history of cancer,” Dr. Diaz said.

Dr. Alan P. Venook, a colorectal cancer specialist at the University of California, San Francisco, who was not involved with the study, said he also thought this was a first.

A complete remission in every single patient is “unheard-of,” he said.

These rectal cancer patients had faced grueling treatments — chemotherapy, radiation and, most likely, life-altering surgery that could result in bowel, urinary and sexual dysfunction. Some would need colostomy bags.

Matrix17 on June 5th, 2022 at 20:57 UTC »

I work in biotech and even though 18 is a small sample size, I've never heard of a 100% success rate. Ever. Maybe promising?

Ghoullogaeth on June 5th, 2022 at 20:47 UTC »

Small sample group or not . 18 people with no correlation other than this test trail medication ALL went into remission of rectal cancer? Someone figure out the odds of that in comparison to winning the lottery or getting struck my lightning please . This is either the luckiest coincidence in the history of Earth or they legit found a cure to their cancer

hatsofftoeverything on June 5th, 2022 at 19:48 UTC »

Small sample size, but absolutely insane