Increased Ovarian Cancer Treatment Effectiveness with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Administration

A study has found that administering immuno-oncology drugs before surgery for advanced ovarian cancer enhances treatment effectiveness.

Professors Lee Jung-yoon, Kim Sung-hoon, and Kim Sang-woon (Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology) at Yonsei Cancer Center's Gynecologic Cancer Center, along with Professor Park Joon-sik from the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Yonsei University College of Medicine, conducted a study in which neoadjuvant chemotherapy was administered to patients with advanced ovarian cancer before surgery. As a result, progression-free survival?the period during which the cancer does not grow?increased by 1.5 times compared to conventional treatment. The study was published in the latest issue of the international journal Cancer Immunotherapy Journal.

Advanced ovarian cancer is treated through surgical removal of tumors and chemotherapy. Stage 3 ovarian cancer often recurs because resistant cancer cells remain even after treatment, with an average progression-free survival of only 12 months.

The research team administered two immune checkpoint inhibitors, durvalumab and tremelimumab, together with platinum-based chemotherapy to 23 patients with stage 3 or higher ovarian cancer registered at four medical institutions in Korea, including Yonsei Cancer Center, followed by tumor removal surgery.

Durvalumab binds to the PD-L1 protein found on cancer cells, helping the immune system kill the cancer cells. Tremelimumab binds to the CTLA-4 protein on T cells, blocking the suppression of T cell activity and increasing attacks on cancer cells.

As a result of the treatment, the overall tumor size decreased by more than 30% compared to the initial diagnosis, showing an excellent objective response rate. Notably, four patients achieved a pathological complete response, with cancer tissue completely disappearing.

Additionally, the progression-free survival period averaged 17.5 months, nearly 1.5 times longer than that of patients with stage 3 or higher ovarian cancer under conventional treatment. Nine patients showed long-term progression-free survival, with no cancer detected for over 30 months.

The research team stated, “This is significant as it confirms that using immuno-oncology drugs from the early stages is effective for patients with poor prognosis advanced ovarian cancer,” adding, “We will do our best to approach overcoming ovarian cancer through continuous research.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.