Short-term neoadjuvant immunotherapy appears to be very effective for patients with locally advanced, nonmetastatic, repair-deficient colorectal cancer. This is the conclusion reached by researchers from the NICHE-2 study in Anthony van Leeuwenhoek (AvL). New English Journal of Medicine.
111 patients with MSI received 2 courses of immunotherapy with nivolumab and ipilimumab 4 weeks before surgery. In 95% of patients, ≥10% of tumor cells were present at the time of surgery, and in two-thirds the tumor had completely disappeared. Two years after surgery, none of the patients’ cancer had returned.
In the AvL press release, internal oncologist Myriam Chalabi, MD, who initiated the NICHE study, called the results unprecedented. “Both the effect and side effects are much better than, for example, chemotherapy before surgery, to which only 1 in 20 patients respond.” Chemotherapy is no longer necessary after surgery in patients who respond well to neoadjuvant immunotherapy during NICHE-2 and similar studies. “Eventually we hope we can even delete the process.”
The patients were followed for 3 years at the end of 2024. If the treatment is successful, it could be considered standard treatment.
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