Immunotherapy Shows Promise as Pre-Surgery Treatment for Specific Bowel Cancer
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A clinical trial led by UCL and UCLH tested pembrolizumab immunotherapy before surgery for patients with a specific genetic profile of bowel cancer. Initial results showed 59% of patients had no signs of disease after treatment, and none have experienced a cancer return after 33 months. The findings are scheduled for presentation at the AACR Annual Meeting in 2026.
Facts First
- 59% of trial patients had no signs of disease after receiving pembrolizumab immunotherapy before surgery.
- None of the treated patients have experienced a cancer return at the 33-month follow-up mark.
- The trial targeted a specific genetic profile (MMR deficient/MSI-high) found in 10–15% of bowel cancer patients.
- Personalized blood tests were used to monitor tumor DNA, which disappeared when treatment worked.
- Standard treatment for stage 2 or 3 bowel cancer is surgery followed by 3 to 6 months of chemotherapy.
What Happened
The NEOPRISM-CRC clinical trial recruited 32 patients with stage 2 or 3 bowel cancer who possessed a specific genetic profile known as MMR deficient/MSI-high. Patients received up to 9 weeks of the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab before surgery, instead of the standard treatment of surgery followed by chemotherapy. Initial results showed 59% of patients had no signs of disease following this treatment and surgery. At a 33-month follow-up, none of the treated patients have experienced a return of their cancer. Researchers used personalized blood tests to monitor tumor DNA, finding its disappearance correlated with successful treatment.
Why this Matters to You
If you or a family member are diagnosed with bowel cancer, this research could offer a potential new treatment path for a specific subset of patients. For those with the MMR deficient/MSI-high genetic profile, which accounts for roughly 10–15% of bowel cancer cases, this approach may lead to a shorter, less intensive treatment regimen that avoids months of chemotherapy. The high rate of patients showing no disease and the absence of cancer recurrence after nearly three years suggests this method could significantly improve outcomes for this group. Bowel cancer is a common disease, being the fourth most common cancer in the UK and the third most common in the US, so advances in treatment are broadly relevant.
What's Next
The full findings from the NEOPRISM-CRC trial are scheduled to be presented at the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting in April 2026. This presentation will likely provide more detailed data and could influence future clinical practice. The promising results may lead to larger trials to confirm the efficacy of this pre-surgery immunotherapy approach, which could eventually make it a standard option for eligible patients.