Abstract & Overview
Endometrial cancer is the most common gynaecological malignancy in developed countries, and often presents at an early stage. Paclitaxel plus carboplatin is the standard first-line chemotherapy for endometrial cancer; however, there is new evidence that the combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy has synergistic effects in the treatment of this disease. For this article, EMJ conducted an interview in August 2023 with two key opinion leaders: Jubilee Brown and Wendel Naumann from Atrium Health Levine Cancer Institute, Charlotte, North Carolina, USA, both of whom have a wealth of experience and expertise in the management of endometrial cancer. The experts gave valuable insights into recent developments in endometrial cancer research as presented at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancers 2023, held on 25th–28th March 2023 in Tampa, Florida, USA, and online. Topics discussed included the unprecedented progression-free survival (PFS) data from two Phase III randomised controlled trials evaluating first-line immunotherapy in combination with chemotherapy in patients with advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer, RUBY with dostarlimab, and NRG GY018 with pembrolizumab, which created a buzz at SGO 2023. Clinically meaningful benefit of dostarlimab or pembrolizumab in combination with chemotherapy versus standard-of-care chemotherapy was seen regardless of mismatch repair status in RUBY and NRG-GY018, respectively. Brown and Naumann considered the implications of these results on first-line treatment and recurrent settings, and outlined the management of immune-related adverse events related to immunotherapy-based treatment regimens. The experts also explored key earlier stage studies presented at SGO, and the potential for personalised medicine in endometrial cancer. Finally, Brown and Naumann described what the future of the management of patients with endometrial cancer might look like, which clinical trials are needed, and which advancements in research they would like to see.