A United States, US, drug involving cancer patients has reportedly recorded 100 per cent success.

The 12 patients, all of whom has been diagnosed with rectal cancer, a type of cancer that begins in the rectum, which is the lower end of the large intestine. entered remission after taking ‘dostarlimab’ over a six-month period, according to a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine.

Dostarlimab is an immunotherapy drug used in the treatment of endometrial cancer.  It works by unmasking cancer cells, allowing the immune system to identify and destroy them.

This is the first time this has happened in the history of cancer, Dr Luis Diaz, one of the lead authors of the paper and an oncologist at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre in New York, told the New York Times.

The researchers said the 12 patients received dostarlimab every three weeks for six months and the treatment was to be followed by standard chemoradiotherapy and surgery.

However, six months after the patients stopped taking the medication, they recorded significant improvement.

“A total of 12 patients have completed treatment with dostarlimab and have undergone at least 6 months of follow up, all 12 patients 100 per cent 95% confidence interval, 74 to 100 had a clinical complet response, with no evidence of tumour on magnetic resonance imaging F-fluorodeoxyglucose-position -emission tomography, endoscopic evaluation, digital rectal examination, or biopsy” said the researchers.

“At the time of this report, no patients had received chemoradiotherapy or undergone surgery, and no cases of progression or recurrence had been reported during follow up (range,6 ro 25 months) no adverse events of grade 3 or higher have been reported.

“The scientists, however, noted that longer follow up is needed to assess the duration of response ” and therefore cautioned against concluding that the cancer had been eradicated permanently.