A new type of cancer treatment is being used with terminally ill patients who previously had little to no options.
According to researchers, the trial used a combination of immunotherapy drugs that harness and boost the power of the patient’s immune system to fight the cancer.
One of the trial patients was told he only had four years to live before going to the study. Just weeks after treatment began, initial scans showed that his tumour had “completely disappeared”.
“These are promising results,” Prof Kristian Helin, the ICR chief executive
“Immunotherapies are kinder, smarter treatments that can bring significant benefits to patients.”
The phase 3 trial results were gathered from 1,000 terminally ill head and neck cancer patients. Though the trial is still in its early days, the results were “clinically meaningful”, the ICR said, with some patients being given much better long-term prognosis and suffering fewer side effects.
A combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab medications revealed a reduction of tumour sizes in terminally ill cancer patients, leaving doctors stunned.
This! @MDAndersonNews @MDABrainSpine #BTSM 🧠👩🏽💻 How #immunotherapy is used to treat cancer. #CancerMoonshot #ReutersHealth #endcancer pic.twitter.com/Funfzz3Hc9
— I Live Now Rachel 💎 (@KickBrainTumors) July 7, 2019
Essentially the treatment trains our immune system to fight the disease itself, supercharging our natural defence systems.
Experts believe this combination of medications has the potential to be effective in other types of future cancer treatments, particularly as the technology evolves.
“Although I had to make biweekly trips from Suffolk to the hospital for the treatment, I had virtually no side-effects and was able to carry on as normal doing the things I love: sailing, cycling, and spending time with my family.”
“When the research nurses called to tell me that, after two months, the tumour in my throat had completely disappeared, it was an amazing moment,” said Ambrose. “While there was still disease in my lungs at that point, the effect was staggering.”
This discovery breathes new life and hope into cancer research and treatments.
Only recently, Mark Hoppus from Blink-182 discussed his battle with cancer.
The future is looking bright.
