Effective immunotherapy as a treatment for head and neck cancer suggests an essay
BelfastTelegraph.co.uk
An immunotherapy drug per se is preferable to aggressive chemotherapy as a first-line treatment of advanced cancer of the head and neck, data from one trial suggest.
https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/immunotherapy-effective-as-treatment-for-head-and-neck-cancer-trial-suggests-37448242.html
https: / /www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/article37448241.ece/4c0e7/AUTOCROP/h342/bpanews_a06c1a4d-b785-4033-9f05-529eb6ed8533_1 Email [1965900] The results of one trial suggest that aggressive chemotherapy is preferable to aggressive chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for advanced head and neck cancer.
Patients were living longer and had much lower side effects rates if they took pembrolizumab than those receiving an "extreme" combination of two chemotherapies and one targeted drug, according to the test conducted by a team of the Cancer Institute. Research and Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust.
People with an immune brand called PD-L1 in their tumor were particularly successful with pembrolizumab – they lived about 40% longer.
We could not believe it when we saw the results. None of us expected that pembrolizumab alone would work as well in some of these patients.
Prof. Kevin Harrington
And if only about one-fifth of the patients responded to pembrolizumab, those who did get out well – with a median response time of 20.9 months, compared with only 4.2 months with aggressive chemotherapy. [19659002] The results of the test could see immunotherapy become a standard first-line treatment for advanced head and neck cancer and spare many patients the side effects badociated with combined chemotherapy.
Patients would normally receive aggressive chemotherapy if they were diagnosed at an advanced stage. when the cancer began to spread to try to get rid of all the cancer cells as quickly as possible
but the new test was to determine whether immunotherapy, combined with chemotherapy or alone, could be more effective and more effective. kinder option.
The researchers randomly badigned 882 patients in equal numbers to one of three treatment groups – receiving the combination of "extreme" chemotherapy, and Pembrolizumab in immunotherapy with platinum chemotherapy or alone
approximately 17 % of patients experienced serious side effects with pembrolizumab, compared to 69% of those taking extreme therapy.
Pembrolizumab was a disadvantage alone.
Even in the high PD-L1 group, 23% of patients who received treatment responded, compared with 36% for chemotherapy.
Professor Kevin Harrington, Professor of Biological Therapies for Cancer. at the London Cancer Institute, and clinical oncology consultant at the Royal Marsden Trust Foundation, said: "Our study showed that pembrolizumab in immunotherapy alone was better than a triple aggressive triumph of two types of chemotherapy plus targeted treatment. drug as a first-line treatment for advanced cancer of the head and neck.
"We could not believe it when we saw the results. None of us expected that pembrolizumab alone would work as well in some of these patients – and this suggests that we could avoid certain chemotherapies.
"The study could have major implications for treating advanced head and neck cancers – taking immunotherapy as a last resort for the treatment we use for some patients.
"The trial is still ongoing, but we expect some patients to live longer than they would have done if they had received standard chemotherapy. "
