(ANSA) – BARCELONA, SEPTEMBER 14 – Encouraging results are coming from research against gynecological tumors, suggesting that several new therapeutic options could soon be available for these patients. This is demonstrated by the results of various studies presented at the congress of the European Society of Medical Oncology (Esmo): they reveal that new groups of women with early-stage endometrial and cervical cancers obtain clinically significant benefits from the addition of immunotherapy to current standard treatments. Therefore, the researchers say, the new combinations of drugs and treatments work.
Gynecological cancers, including endometrial and cervical cancers, remain a leading cause of cancer death and a major challenge to women’s health worldwide. In Italy, there are nearly 2,500 new cases diagnosed each year of cervical cancer and approximately 1,150 deaths; nearly 10,200 cases of endometrial cancer each year and approximately 2,400 deaths; and more than 6,000 cases of ovarian cancer and approximately 3,600 deaths.
New hope, however, comes from immunotherapy. The results of a phase 3 study on high-risk locally advanced cervical cancer have in fact shown that pembrolizumab plus concomitant chemoradiotherapy achieved a significant improvement in overall survival at 3 years in 82.6% of patients treated with pembrolizumab compared to 74.8% in the placebo group.
Another study found “promising” antitumor activity with a new antibody drug conjugate (TORL-1-23) targeting the protein claudin 6 in heavily pretreated patients with ovarian and endometrial cancers. According to several experts, combination therapies will be the future in gynecological cancers, with combinations of immunotherapy with chemotherapy or radiotherapy and targeted agents. There is also considerable room for growth in the development of personalized drugs, such as neoantigen vaccines and personalized immunotherapy. The studies presented at Esmo “mark important advances in gynecological cancer research, suggesting that several new treatment options may soon be available,” concluded Isabelle Ray-Coquard, president of the Group d’Investigateurs National Evaluation des Cancers de l’Ovaire (Gyneco). (ANSA).
2024-09-14 23:58:26