After getting engaged, the only thing Mrinali Dhembla wanted to hear was “I do.”
Instead, she was told: “You have cancer.”
“When I first heard the words ‘you have cancer,’ I was obviously shocked because when you’re in your 20s, you just think that a little bit of disturbance in your gut is not a big deal. You can live with it,” said Dhembla, 27.
Dhembla was diagnosed early last year with aggressive stage 3 rectal cancer, which had spread to her spine, as part of a disturbing rise in colorectal cancer rates among adults under 50.
Mrinali Dhembla was shocked when she was diagnosed with rectal cancer last year. She was put on new medication.
Treatment usually includes surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy. But Dhembla received a very special invitation—she became one of the first patients to receive a one-two punch of nivolumab and ipilimumab.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration last year approved a dual immunotherapy drug regimen to treat advanced cancers such as melanoma, mesothelioma and colorectal cancer.
“We started this immunotherapy, and her response was remarkable,” Dr. Nicholas Hornstein, assistant professor of medical oncology at Northwell Health Cancer Institute, said of Dhembla.
“I’m optimistic that with the right patients, these new treatments can provide huge benefits in a relatively short period of time, which was not possible five years ago.”
shocking diagnosis
Genetic testing revealed that Dhembla had Lynch syndrome, a genetic disorder caused by mutations in genes that repair DNA copying errors.
“Think of these genes as a spell checker for your DNA,” Hornstein told The Washington Post.
“When cells divide, small mistakes naturally occur, and these mismatch repair proteins should be able to detect and repair them,” he added. “In people with Lynch syndrome, the spell check system is disrupted, so DNA errors can build up over time, which can lead to cancer.”
Dhembla and her fiancé Chris got engaged shortly before she suffered her devastating diagnosis.
People who know they have Lynch syndrome should start screening colonoscopies between the ages of 20 and 25, or two to five years earlier than the youngest age at which a family member was diagnosed, whichever comes first.
People at average risk should start colorectal cancer screening at age 45.
Dhembla, a digital media strategist/expert, said she had no idea she had Lynch Syndrome. She did not receive any monitoring before diagnosis, and she did not receive symptoms such as rectal bleeding, low-grade fever, and chronic constipation before diagnosis.
Inside cutting-edge therapy
The good news is that Lynch syndrome makes tumors highly susceptible to immunotherapy.
This dual immunotherapy drug regimen, which won the 2018 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, specifically targets patients with “MSI-high” tumors.
“This means that the tumor’s DNA repair machinery is disrupted, which is exactly what we see in Lynch syndrome,” explains Hornstein.
“Only about 15% of all colorectal cancers have high MSI, but the proportion is higher in younger patients and those with Lynch syndrome.”
Dhembla (second from right) ran a 5K last spring in New York while undergoing treatment for colorectal cancer.
Dual immunotherapy breaks through the protective barrier of tumors and enhances the immune system’s ability to fight cancer cells.
After just three infusions over four months, Dhembla’s scans and biopsies showed no evidence of disease.
Her circulating tumor DNA (molecules released by cancer cells into the blood) dropped from 300 to zero. Dhembla was declared cancer-free in July 2025.
“[Dhembla’s] “The immune system does things that surgery, chemotherapy and radiation may not be able to do,” Hornstein said. “This is a profound example of precision medicine, matching the right treatment to the right biology.”
new routine
If Dhembla had followed the “standard playbook,” she would have faced complex spinal surgery and risked nerve damage.
She may lose her rectum and need a permanent colostomy bag to collect her waste.
Now that Dhembla is cancer-free, the couple has resumed wedding plans.
Conversely, side effects of immunotherapy are fatigue, thyroid dysfunction, or inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract and lungs.
“I take a hypothyroid pill every morning, but it’s now become my daily routine and doesn’t cause any daily trouble,” Dembra told The Washington Post.
She meets with Hornstein every three months to increase surveillance.
“We are watching Mrinali very closely to make sure the cancer doesn’t come back and she doesn’t need surgery,” Hornstein said.
“Since she achieved a complete clinical response, meaning no cancer was detected, we are monitoring her using a combination of tools.”
They also look forward to more travel. Since Dhembla’s recovery, they have made three international trips.
These tools include visits to oncologists, colorectal surgeons, gastroenterologists, and endocrinologists.
She recently had a colonoscopy – she’s still two years away from due date – and has proctoscopies every three months.
The long road to the wedding
Dembra moved to New York from New Hampshire to be closer to Hornstein and is adjusting to life as a New Yorker.
She continues to plan her wedding to fiancé Chris.
They had planned to get married next month “but decided it was best to make cancer a distant memory” before walking down the aisle.
“Although my cancer journey was short, it left a lasting impact. I needed time to recover from it emotionally and spiritually,” Dhembla said.
