Promising bowel cancer drug gives patient ‘new lease of life’

• An early trial has shown significant promise for a targeted treatment, ozekibart, when combined with chemotherapy for patients with advanced bowel cancer.
• The drug works by mimicking a natural protein to trigger the 'death' of cancer cells while largely sparing healthy tissue.
• The Phase I trial, led by the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, involved 45 patients whose advanced bowel cancer had worsened after prior treatments.
• Results indicated that tumours shrank in 20 per cent of patients, and the cancer ceased growing in almost 87 per cent of participants.
• One patient, 59-year-old Amanda Burgess, described the therapy as giving her a “new lease of life”, allowing her to spend more time with her family and her beloved dogs.

IN FULL

New bowel cancer drug halts tumour growth in nine out of 10 patients