A small clinical trial found that nine weeks of the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab before surgery resulted in zero cancer recurrences after 33 months in patients with a specific genetic profile of bowel cancer. Traditionally, about a quarter of patients treated with standard surgery and chemotherapy relapse within three years. The researchers also used personalized blood tests to track tumor DNA and identify who responded best to the treatment.
The mechanism here relies on a particular genetic subtype, MMR-deficient and MSI-high tumors, which represent only about ten to fifteen percent of stage two and three bowel cases. The trial was small, following just 32 patients, so these results need replication in larger cohorts before shifting standard clinical practice. It is a promising shift toward pre-operative treatment, but one that applies to a narrow biological window rather than all bowel cancers universally.
more: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/10/261007042115.htm
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