Advances In Immunotherapy For Gynecological Cancers: Review Of Current And Emerging Immunotherapies For Ovarian, Cervical, And Endometrial Cancers

Abstract

Globally, these gynecological cancers (ovarian, cervical, and endometrial) have a significant burden on both morbidity and mortality from cancer. However, for advanced and recurrent cases, traditional treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy haven't greatly improved survival. Except for very rare diseases, immunotherapy is a promising approach, which combines the power of the immune system against cancer and is discussed in this review as a promising approach and its application in gynecological malignancies.

Immune checkpoint inhibitors that used to have promising results in concentrated patients with recurrent or advanced gynecological cancers include pembrolizumab and nivolumab. Further, adoptive cell therapies, such as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T cells, and therapeutic cancer vaccines directed to specific tumor-associated antigens, represent possible novel treatments. Challenges to resistance and patient response variability have prevented immunotherapies from successfully using melanoma as a model for gynecological cancers, but the success of immunotherapy in other cancers has paved the way for its application to gynecological cancers.

This review is important in its possibility to change gynecological cancer treatment. Further research into combination therapies and biomarkers could greatly improve patient outcomes with immunotherapy. More clinical trials and research will nevertheless be necessary to optimize these treatments for patients outside of the reduced subgroup studied in Phase 3 studies.