The Role of ICIs in Cervical Cancer Treatment

Bradley J. Monk, MD, FACOG, FACS, gynecologic oncologist, Arizona Oncology, discusses the use of immune checkpoint inhibitors to treat cervical cancer.

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0:08 | Based on the biology of cervical cancer, it should be responsive to immune checkpoint inhibition as a single agent and in combination with chemotherapy and maybe even in combination with radiation and it is. In June of 2018, pembrolizumab got approved on a small subset accelerated approval 77 patients with a 14.3% response rate very low, but the duration of response was long.

0:38 | Now, there are other checkpoint inhibitors cemiplimab is one and cemplimab [Libtayo] is also is active as is nivolumab [Opdivo]. In fact, all of them are listed on the NCCN guidelines.

0:50 | So, it's very difficult to compare them because their mechanisms of action are similar. Their doses and schedules are different. And the interpretations of the biomarker data are different because the biomarkers are tested in different ways. So, people make these generalities oh this medication works and PD-L1-positive or PD-L1-negative patients, you can't really assess that accurately, except in KEYNOTE-026. So, there are numerous checkpoint inhibitors available based on the viral etiology, the level of PD-L1 expression, these molecules should work and they do.