This Clinical Trial Boosted Patient Survival for Advanced Colon Cancer

WEDNESDAY, May 29, 2024 (HealthDay News) — People battling advanced colon cancers might have a new treatment option that could extend their survival, a new trial finds. Since Black Americans are 20 percent more likely to get a colon cancer diagnosis and 40 percent more likely to die from it, this finding could be a beacon of hope. A combination of two experimental immunotherapy drugs plus standard chemotherapy led to a median 19.7 month survival for patients, compared to the median 9.5 months observed among folks who only got a targeted therapy called regorafenib. “These results pave the way for further exploration of this promising treatment approach,” said study first author Dr. Zev Wainberg. He co-directs the UCLA Health GI Oncology Program, and is a researcher at the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. The two experimental immunotherapy drugs were etrumadenant and zimberelimab, which activate the immune system to target cancer cells. Both are under development by Arcus Biosciences, which funded the new trial. How many people will have colon cancer this year? According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 106,590 new cases of colon cancer will be diagnosed among Americans in 2024, and around 53,010 people will die...