ESMO 2024: breakthroughs in gynecological oncology including TORL-1-23
Three studies recently presented at ESMO 2024 (September 13–17, Barcelona, Spain) highlight significant advances such as TORL-1-23 in the treatment of gynecological cancers.
Immunotherapy has been successful in improving survival rates for many cancer patients, but its effectiveness in gynecological cancers remains unclear. This has driven researchers to explore how immunotherapy can benefit gynecological cancer patients and identify which groups of patients may be set to benefit the most.
Among the latest findings, the first of the three key studies presented at ESMO 2024, was a Phase III double-blind study that evaluated the impact of combining Keytruda® (pembrolizumab) with standard chemoradiotherapy in patients with high-risk, locally advanced cervical cancer. Researchers discovered that this treatment combination led to a significant increase in overall survival.
Patients who received pembrolizumab immunotherapy in addition to chemoradiotherapy achieved a t3-year overall survival rate of 82.6%, compared to the 74.8% in patients that received chemoradiotherapy alone.
Commenting on these findings, Isabelle Ray-Coquard (Université Claude Bernard, Lyon, France), who was not involved in the study stated: “Immunotherapy plus chemoradiotherapy provides a new standard of care for patients with high-risk locally advanced cervical cancer.”
Interestingly, in a second Phase III randomized study, researchers uncovered that a post-surgical combination of pembrolizumab and chemotherapy did not confer a similar benefit and did not improve disease-free survival in patients with high-risk endometrial cancer.
However, subgroup analysis revealed that in patients with deficient mismatch repair (dMMR) tumors, disease-free survival was improved by adding immunotherapy to chemotherapy after surgery.
ESMO 2024: breaking news and abstracts
Check out our roundup on key new stories and abstracts from ESMO 2024 including other key ADC data.
Elene Mariamidze (Todua Clinic, Tbilisi, Georgia), who was also not directly part of the study group, emphasized the importance of these study results: “Although this trial is not positive in the study population as a whole, it gives us important information indicating that patients with endometrial dMMR tumors are more sensitive and reactive to immunotherapy”
Ray-Coquard concurred: “We need to focus on which subgroups of patients with gynecological cancers benefit from immunotherapy. Findings on the the subgroups with newly diagnosed endometrial dMMR tumors offer a powerful example that identifying a good biomarker enables us to change a patient’s story definitively.”
The third major development presented was a first-in-human study of the antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) TORL-1-23, which targets the claudin 6 protein. It demonstrated promising anti-tumor activity in heavily pretreated patients with various cancers expressing claudin 6, including advanced ovarian and endometrial cancers.
Ray-Coquard emphasized that although this study is at an early stage, it is particularly interesting for two main reasons: “Firstly it paves the way for a new target for ADCs in gynecological cancers, where we currently have very few validated ones. Secondly, the findings suggest potential efficacy in ovarian cancer, a disease for which we currently have very few treatment options.”
Reflecting on these major advances, Ray-Coquard concluded: “The studies presented at ESMO 2024 mark important progress in gynecological cancer research, suggesting that several new treatment options may soon be available, which is very good for our patients. The development of new therapies such as immune therapy will offer the chance to cure more early-stage gynecological cancer patients and potentially with new ADCs to prolong overall survival”.