In the Netherlands, the studied treatment is not yet available for patients. “This trial is intended to make this treatment available to patients with this type of colorectal cancer. Towards the end of the year, we will have followed these patients for three years. If the majority of these patients is still cancer-free, we should work towards making this therapy a standard treatment option.”
“We have reached the point where we can forgo chemotherapy before surgery in this and comparable studies in patients with colorectal cancer who respond well to neoadjuvant immunotherapy. The next and crucial step is to make this treatment available as a standard treatment. That is what we are currently working towards. And eventually we hope to even provide the option of avoiding surgery in patients who respond well.”
Two years ago, Chalabi presented the preliminary results at a large international congress. She was awarded with a standing ovation for her work, and the #Chalabiplot phenomenon on X (formerly known as Twitter). This refers to a graph she showed in her presentation, visualizing the impressive results of the trial. “Thinking back to that moment still gives me goosebumps. The positive emotions in the hall were palpable: these results could drastically improve the treatment outcomes of future patients.”
This graph shows the decrease in tumor as measured by the pathologist after surgery. Every bar depicts an individual patient, and when the bar reaches -100 it means that the tumor was completely gone. MPR stands for major pathologic response, which is the boundary of 10% or less live tumor cells.