Patrick Soon-Shiong, Chairman of Chan Soon-Shiong Family Foundation, Executive Chairman at ImmunityBio, Executive Chairman of Los Angeles Times, shared a post by Rishabh Jain, Medical Oncologist at AIIMS, on X, adding:
“The failed RAPIDO trial highlights the point that more chemo- radiation harms the immune system even further. For decades we still pursue this path without realizing that the ALC count, a simple measure of NK and T cells are decreased by this therapy. So little wonder that it does not work.
NO NK CELLS AND NO T-CELLS NO TUMOR CELL DEATH. Pretty simple!!”
Quoting Rishabh Jain‘s post:
“TNT in Rectal Cancer: Promise or Premature?
Total Neoadjuvant Therapy (TNT) has been hyped for LARC, but does it really beat standard chemoradiation (CRT)?
4 Key RCTs:
•RAPIDO → ↓ distant mets, no OS gain
•PRODIGE-23 → ↑ DFS, small OS edge (but early curve drop & underpowered)
•POLISH II → initial OS benefit → vanished at 8 yrs
•STELLAR → ↑ 3-yr OS (86.5% vs 75.1%), but short f/u
pCR rates: higher with TNT (22.5% vs 13.3%) but confounded by shorter CRT–surgery interval.
Takeaway: TNT = modest ↓ distant mets, unclear OS benefit, more toxicity.
CRT remains standard until better biomarkers guide who truly benefits. Ubink et al. JCO Oncol Pract. 2025.”
Title: Critical Evaluation of Total Neoadjuvant Therapy for Locally Advanced Rectal Cancer
Authors: Mirthe Ubink, Henk M.W. Verheul, Cornelis Verhoef, Pieter J. Tanis,
You Can Also Read: Patrick Soon-Shiong: NK cells matter!
