Ovarian cancer, a frequently lethal form of tumor in women, is often diagnosed at a late stage. Surgical intervention and platinum-based chemotherapy form the standard of care, yielding high response rates, yet relapse remains a common occurrence in most patients. see more Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors, or PARPi, have recently become part of the treatment plan for high-grade ovarian cancer, especially for patients with compromised DNA repair mechanisms, such as homologous recombination deficiency (HRd). Nonetheless, some tumor cells may fail to respond to therapy, and some will create coping strategies for resistance. Epigenetic and genetic modifications drive the reversion of homologous repair proficiency, a key mechanism in PARPi resistance. see more Exploration of diverse agents in ongoing research aims to re-sensitize tumor cells and find ways to overcome or bypass their resistance to PARPi. Replication stress agents, DNA repair pathway modulators, drug delivery enhancers, and modulators of other cross-talk pathways are at the forefront of current investigations. Successfully applying the appropriate therapies or combinations of therapies will depend critically on the ability to identify and select the best-suited patients. Even so, minimizing overlapping toxicity and precisely defining the dosage timing schedule is critical to maximizing the therapeutic effect.
Curing patients with multidrug-resistant gestational trophoblastic neoplasia is now possible with the potent and low-toxicity anti-programmed death-1 antibody (anti-PD-1) immunotherapy treatment. A new era is upon us, one in which the majority of patients, even those with illnesses previously considered intractable, can look forward to achieving long-lasting remission. This advancement forces a critical review of current management approaches for patients afflicted with this rare disease, emphasizing a strong focus on achieving maximum cure rates while minimizing exposure to harmful chemotherapy.
Low-grade serous ovarian cancer, a specific type of epithelial ovarian cancer, is notable for presenting in younger patients, exhibiting a diminished response to chemotherapy, and, surprisingly, demonstrating a longer survival time relative to high-grade serous ovarian cancer. The molecular characteristics of this entity include estrogen and progesterone receptor positivity, disruptions within the mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway, and a wild-type TP53 expression. Significant progress, independent of other research areas, has been made in understanding low-grade serous ovarian cancer as a distinct entity, revealing details of its unique disease progression, the oncogenic mechanisms involved, and promising potential for novel treatments. Cytoreductive surgery, in conjunction with platinum-based chemotherapy, maintains its role as the standard treatment protocol in the primary care environment. Yet, low-grade serous ovarian cancer has demonstrated a comparative insensitivity to chemotherapy, both in the initial diagnosis and in subsequent recurrences. In the areas of maintenance and recurrent health concerns, endocrine therapy is frequently employed, and further trials are being conducted to assess its use in the adjuvant setting. Recognizing the substantial parallels between low-grade serous ovarian cancer and luminal breast cancer, a plethora of recent studies have implemented analogous therapeutic strategies, encompassing the combination of endocrine therapy with CDK (cyclin-dependent kinase) 4/6 inhibitors. In addition, recent studies have examined the efficacy of combination therapies that are designed to target the MAPK signaling pathway, encompassing MEK (mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase), BRAF (v-raf murine sarcoma viral oncogene homolog B1), FAK (focal adhesion kinase), and PI3K (phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase) inhibition strategies. We present, in this review, novel therapeutic strategies specifically for low-grade serous ovarian cancer.
In the first-line setting of high-grade serous ovarian cancer treatment, understanding the genome's complexity is now essential for guiding patient management. see more Our understanding of this field has greatly expanded over the past few years, mirroring the concurrent development of biomarkers and the creation of agents that target genetic abnormalities found in cancerous cells. This review considers the current genetic testing domain, forecasting future advancements in refining personalized therapies and detecting treatment resistance in real time.
A substantial public health challenge is posed by cervical cancer, which ranks fourth in incidence and mortality amongst women globally. Individuals experiencing recurrent, persistent, or metastatic disease, ineligible for curative therapies, have a poor prognosis. Until the recent advancements, these individuals were only eligible for treatment involving cisplatin-based chemotherapy and bevacizumab. Nevertheless, the implementation of immune checkpoint inhibitors has brought about a radical transformation in the management of this ailment, resulting in unprecedented advancements in overall patient survival, both in the post-platinum and initial treatment phases. Interestingly, immunotherapy's clinical application in cervical cancer is now targeting locally advanced stages, although its preliminary effectiveness has so far not met expectations. Additionally, early-stage trials are yielding promising results for novel immunotherapy approaches, like human papillomavirus therapeutic vaccines and adoptive cell therapies. This review details the key clinical trials that have shaped immunotherapy research over the past several years.
The pathological classification of endometrial carcinomas, a crucial factor in patient clinical management, has historically been dependent on morphological characteristics. Nevertheless, the endometrial carcinoma classification scheme falls short of encompassing the full spectrum of biological variety within this cancer type, and its reproducibility is correspondingly constrained. The last decade has witnessed a surge in studies documenting the powerful predictive capability of molecular classifications in endometrial carcinoma, and, more recently, their role in guiding choices about adjuvant therapy. The latest World Health Organization (WHO) classification of tumors of female reproductive organs has, in turn, led to a shift from a solely morphological approach to an integrated system combining histology and molecular analysis. European treatment guidelines for the new era integrate molecular subgroups with traditional clinicopathological features, thereby directing treatment decisions. Consequently, precise molecular subgroup identification is essential for the suitable management of patients. This review addresses the shortcomings and evolution of molecular techniques that are essential for implementing molecular classifications of endometrial carcinoma, while exploring the difficulties in merging these molecular subgroups with standard clinical and pathological factors.
Clinical trials for antibody drug conjugates (ADCs) in ovarian cancer, initiated in 2008, leveraged farletuzumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody, and vintafolide, an antigen drug conjugate, both designed to target the alpha folate receptor. This novel drug class's development involved an increase in the complexity of its agents, allowing for more specific targeting of tissue factor (TF) in cervical cancers or human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) in endometrial cancers. Despite the noteworthy patient numbers enrolled in clinical trials examining different antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) for various gynecological cancers, it wasn't until quite recently that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) granted accelerated approvals to the first ADCs in this particular type of cancer. Tisotumab vedotin (TV) gained FDA approval in September 2021 for treating recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer, a condition that displayed disease progression after or concurrent with chemotherapy. The approval of mirvetuximab soravtansine (MIRV) for adult patients with folate receptor alpha (FR) positive, platinum-resistant epithelial ovarian, fallopian tube, or primary peritoneal cancer, who had undergone one to three prior systemic treatments, came in November 2022. At present, the ADC field is experiencing substantial growth, with over twenty ADC formulations currently undergoing clinical trials for the treatment of ovarian, cervical, and endometrial malignancies. This review details the compelling evidence backing their use and therapeutic roles, specifically including data from the final stages of clinical trials examining MIRV in ovarian cancer and TV in cervical cancer. We introduce innovative concepts related to ADCs, including compelling targets like NaPi2 and ground-breaking drug delivery systems, such as dolaflexin with a scaffold-linker design. Lastly, we offer a concise summary of the difficulties in clinically managing ADC toxicities, and the growing role of combining ADC therapies, including chemotherapies, anti-angiogenic agents, and immunotherapies.
Drug development stands as a cornerstone in bettering outcomes for patients facing gynecologic cancers. With reproducible and suitable endpoints, a randomized clinical trial should test whether the new intervention produces a notable clinical improvement relative to the established standard of care. The ultimate measurement of benefit for new therapeutic strategies lies in achieving clinically meaningful improvements in overall survival and/or quality of life (QoL). The new therapeutic drug's impact can be assessed earlier through alternative endpoints, such as progression-free survival, unaffected by the subsequent lines of therapy. Yet, the correlation between surrogacy and improvements in overall survival or quality of life specifically in gynecologic malignancies is not evident. Crucial to studies evaluating maintenance strategies are other time-to-event endpoints like two-time-point progression-free survival and time to a second subsequent treatment, which illuminate long-term disease control. Within gynecologic oncology clinical trials, translational and biomarker studies are becoming more integral, enabling a greater comprehension of disease biology and resistance mechanisms, as well as optimizing patient selection for potentially beneficial therapeutic interventions.