Current and Emerging Developments for the Treatment of Endometrial Cancer

Wesley Burkett, MD, a fellow in gynecologic oncology at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine, discusses some novel targets that are available and being evaluated in the endometrial cancer space.

First, Burkett highlights the combination of pembrolizumab (Keytruda) and lenvatinib (Lenvima), which was approved by the FDA for patients with advanced endometrial carcinoma that is not microsatellite instability-high or mismatch repair deficient in July 2021. Lenvatinib in combination with pembrolizumab has been found to be an effective treatment for patients with advanced endometrial cancer.

Results of the KEYNOTE-775/Study 309 trial (NCT03517449) led to the approval as findings showed a 5-year survival rate of approximately 17% in patients with advanced endometrial cancer who have distant metastases.

Additionally, the key for future treatments and developments for the endometrial cancer space will be the strategies being evaluated in preclinical and clinical research. Burkett highlights 1 trial that is evaluating PARP inhibitors for the treatment of endometrial cancer. The use of PARP inhibitors has already proven themselves to be effective in certain cancers, including breast and ovarian cancer, so reseearchers look forward to further evaluating them for this patient population.

Transcription:

0:08 | Mismatch repair is the one that has been the most commonly treated currently, or is the most commonly treated with pembrolizumab. The combination of pembrolizumab and lenvatinib has been approved for the treatment of advanced endometrial cancer, so there is some excitement there. We are still behind other types of cancers in these targeted treatments.

0:44 | One subject or 1 part that is being evaluated, which I am not as familiar with it as I am not participating in it, but there have been studies similar to using a PARP inhibitor for endometrial cancer. There is currently a clinical trial ongoing with that, so that would be where I would look first.