Immunotherapy before surgery melts bowel cancer away

· Science

In the NEOPRISM-CRC trial, 32 patients with a specific genetic form of stage two or three bowel cancer received pembrolizumab for up to nine weeks before surgery instead of the usual post-surgery chemotherapy. The short course of immunotherapy appeared to melt the tumours away and the effect proved durable, with patients remaining cancer-free afterwards. Pembrolizumab is a checkpoint inhibitor that helps the immune system attack tumour cells, and this trial tested moving it earlier in the treatment sequence for a genetically defined subgroup. The result suggests a short, targeted pre-surgical course could spare some patients more toxic standard treatment, and researchers are now looking at whether the approach holds in larger populations.

Why it matters：It points to a shift from treating cancer after surgery to priming the immune system before it, which could change surgical and oncology protocols for genetically defined tumour subtypes.

Key points

  • 32 patients with a specific genetic form of stage two or three bowel cancer took part.
  • Pembrolizumab was given for up to nine weeks before surgery rather than after.
  • The immunotherapy response was described as durable, with cancer staying away.

Sources (original reporting)

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