Tag Archive for: radiation

Locally advanced rectal cancer may involve multistep neoadjuvant therapy to shrink the tumor before the main treatment, which is often surgery. Although this approach results in a complete pathological response in up to 25% of patients, it involves the risk of complications and toxic effects, including bowel, urinary, and sexual dysfunction; infertility; and altered quality of life in a significant number of patients. A new study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, has found that patients with mismatch repair-deficient, locally advanced rectal cancer can be effectively treated with neoadjuvant programmed death-1 (PD-1) blockade.  

Approximately 5-10% of rectal adenocarcinomas are attributed to mismatch-repair deficiency, and this subset of tumors respond poorly to standard chemotherapy treatments. Immune checkpoint blockade could be an effective treatment option for this subset of patients. PD-1 elicits an immune checkpoint response of T-cells, allowing tumor cells to bypass the immune system defense, as well as resist the effects of chemotherapy. To test this hypothesis, researchers at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Yale University School of Medicine conducted a phase 2 investigation to analyze the overall response and frequency of sustained clinical complete response to neoadjuvant treatment with a PD-1 inhibitor, dostarlimab. 

PD-1 Blockade Eliminated Rectal Tumors

Of the sixteen patients enrolled in the study, twelve were enrolled for more than six months and completed nine cycles of dostarlimab. The resulting clinical complete response was measured by a combination of rectal MRI, visual endoscopic inspection, and digital rectal examination in twelve patients who had at least six months of follow-up. Endoscopic biopsies were performed at baseline and during visual inspection of tumor response at six weeks, three months, and 6 months, and then every four months thereafter. Serial FDG-PET scans to evaluate tumor eradication presented similar results to that seen with pathological examination and genomic analysis of the evolution of tumor eradication. 

The elimination of tumors after six months of therapy with PD-1 blockade allowed Dr. Cercek and her team to be able to omit both chemoradiotherapy and surgery and to move forward with observation alone. Single-agent dostarlimab was significantly influential in treating mismatch repair-deficient, locally advanced rectal cancer. It provided a clinical complete response in all 12 patients who completed treatment to date. 

Surgery and radiation can permanently impact fertility, sexual health, and bowel and bladder function. With the rise in incidence of rectal cancer among young patients of child-bearing age, anti-PD-1 antibodies can be a good alternative to chemoradiotherapy and surgery and may specifically benefit this cohort of patients. Dostarlimab promotes a refined approach toward treatment that can significantly improve the quality of life of patients, especially younger patients who may not yet have started a family. These findings also encourage the potential for using PD-1 inhibitors in the treatment of other mismatch repair-deficient tumors, such as localized pancreatic, gastric, and prostate cancers.

 

Sahar Alam is a Colorectal Cancer Prevention Intern with the Colon Cancer Foundation.