A new treatment can destroy cancerous tumors in the neck and head in terminally ill patients. The experience of a 77-year-old patient

In a study, a cocktail of immunotherapy drugs used patients’ immune systems to kill cancer cells and increased survival, researchers at the Cancer Research Institute (ICR) in London and Royal said. Marsden NHS Foundation Trust.

Barry Ambrose, a 77-year-old study participant, was diagnosed with neck cancer in 2017 and was told that it had already spread to his lungs – and that palliative care at the hospital was his only option. He spoke for The Guardian that he did not hesitate to join the study:

“When I was told about the study … I didn’t hesitate to join. What did I have to lose? It turned out to be a chance to save. Although I had to go twice a week from Suffolk to the hospital for treatment, I had no side effects and managed to continue my life and do the things I love: sailing, cycling and to spend time with my family ”. said the patient.

About eight weeks after starting treatment, tests showed that the throat tumor had been destroyed.

“When the nurses called to tell me that after two months, the tumor in my throat was completely gone, it was an incredible moment,” Ambrose said. “Although there was still lung disease at the time, the effect was astonishing.”

The new treatment has fewer side effects than chemotherapy

According to experts, the combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab treatments is a new effective weapon against several forms of cancer.

In addition to increasing patients’ chances of long-term survival, the scientists said that immunotherapy treatment also triggered far fewer side effects compared to chemotherapy, a standard treatment offered to advanced patients.

The results of the Phase 3 study, which involved nearly 1,000 patients with dying head and neck tumors, were early and not statistically significant, but were still “clinically significant.” “, Said researchers from ICR.

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