Maureen Sideris, 71, was diagnosed with gastroesophageal cancer in 2022 after struggling to swallow food. Instead of the usual treatments of chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery, she participated in a clinical trial at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, receiving only immunotherapy. Two years later, she is in remission.
The trial focused on patients with tumors having a mismatch repair deficiency, a mutation that leads to more mutations in cancer cells.
Immunotherapy trains the immune system to target these cancer cells. The treatment showed success in patients with rectal cancer and expanded to include other cancers like esophageal, endometrial, and kidney cancers.
In the trial, 49 rectal cancer patients had complete responses and avoided surgery. Among 54 patients with other cancers, 61% also had complete responses.
While immunotherapy isn’t for everyone, it offers hope for those with the specific mutation, potentially avoiding surgery and improving quality of life.
Dr. Luis Diaz, who led the research, believes immunotherapy could replace traditional treatments for some cancer patients, making it a promising option for the future.
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