Bladder cancer patients in the trial conducted by the Barts Cancer Center in London were given immunotherapy for two months, the period before the bladder was removed with a tumor.
The researchers found that these patients became free of cancer only two months after the surgery, according to the British newspaper, “Daily Mail”.
Commenting on the result of the study, which will be published in its final form with further trials, Professor Thomas Bowles, Director of the Barts Cancer Center, said: “We never expected to see so many cancer-free patients after only two months of treatment. Most patients with this type of cancer have the bladder removed, and many of them then receive immunotherapy for a year to give them the best chance of a cure, but what we find may change that approach.”
“For many years, the conventional wisdom has been that the best time to offer immunotherapy is after surgery, but evidence is increasingly suggesting that giving drugs beforehand has much better results. In the not-too-distant future, we can decide ahead of time when a patient is scheduled to undergo an operation,” Bowles added. Whether he’ll actually need the procedure depends on whether we can detect any cancer cells in their blood.”
A previous study had found that giving two immunotherapy drugs to colon cancer patients before surgery produced an “unprecedented” positive tumor response.
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