Do - THE STAR - limab?

Cancer has been killing people since ancient Egypt. And now we are taking our first step toward tackling this disease as if it were a common cold. Dostarlimab is the miracle drug that everyone has their eyes set on. Doctors, scientists, patients, and the general public have been in awe of the 100% success rate of the trial at the New York's Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. In this trial, 12 patients diagnosed with mismatch repair deficiency colorectal cancer (MMRD) opted for a 12-month study on the success of Dostarlimab before chemotherapy and other radiation-related therapy. The results of this experiment are incredibly miraculous and provide insight into the future of cancer treatments because it opens up cheaper alternatives and more ways to tackle cancer.

To understand Dostarlimab, it is vital to understand what colorectal cancer is. Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers diagnosed in the US, affecting around 200,000 people annually. Colorectal cancer is located in the colon of the large intestine and can spread throughout the body like other cancers. There are four stages of this cancer, and stage three is usually the point where the chances of death overpower surviving. MMRD is a mutation that does not allow cells to make corrections to DNA mutations after cancer starts to grow.

Not only that, but with this diagnosis, chemotherapy is ineffective. Because of this, patients choose higher-priced treatments such as surgical removal of these tumors. The most prevailing problem for cancer patients tends to be the actual cost of the treatment because it leads to more than half of the treated patients worrying about covering their debt. While many hoped that Dostarlimab was less expensive than other cancer treatments, it tends to come close to the price of chemotherapy, potentially more costly. The reason why this drug is expensive is because of the treatment capabilities and the limited supply. Once this medicine is mass-produced, prices may fall down. However, when patients invest in this drug, they invest in a cancer-free future.

Dostarlimab changes the way cancer researchers approach new treatments. This immunotherapy drug has surprised doctors not only because of the results but because of the process that it took to cure patients of their cancer. This treatment targets the PD-1 and PD-L1 interaction between T-cells and cancer cells. The protein PD-1 is a manual cell death protein that T-cells use to fight back against invasive cells. PD-L1 is a protein on cancer cells that prevents PD-1 from manually disabling the cell from replicating. In patients diagnosed with MMRD colorectal cancer, the PD-1 and PD-L1 interact to prevent T-cells from fighting back. Dostarlimab serves as the perfect solution for it. Dostarlimab is full of antibodies for the PD-L1 protein and after it enters the body, it exposes the cancer cells, letting the T-cells differentiate the cancer cells from normal cells.

The miraculous results of this one trial have helped people realize that cancer does not have to be a life-threatening disease anymore. As we move onto a more medically advanced era, new treatments can be more cost-efficient, be more available to populations, and save more lives.