Background
Cervical cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related deaths among women. For women whose cancer has come back (recurred) or spread to other parts of the body (metastasized), treatment options are limited, and new therapies are urgently needed. This trial aimed to see if a new drug could help patients live longer and improve their quality of life.
What is Cemiplimab?
Cemiplimab is a type of drug called a checkpoint inhibitor, which helps the body’s immune system fight cancer. Normally, cancer cells can hide from the immune system. Cemiplimab works by blocking this ability, allowing the immune system to recognize and attack the cancer cells more effectively. This drug had already been used for other cancers, like skin cancer, and this trial tested if it could work for cervical cancer as well.
Mechanism of Action of Immunotherapy
The EMPOWER-Cervical 1 Trial
The EMPOWER-Cervical 1 trial included 608 patients with recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer from many different countries from July 2017 until August 2020. The patients in the study were randomly divided into two groups: One group received Cemiplimab as the treatment and the other group received chemotherapy, which was the standard treatment.
By comparing these two groups, the researchers aimed to find out if Cemiplimab worked better than chemotherapy in helping patients live longer and stop the cancer from growing.
Outcome
The results showed that Cemiplimab was more effective than chemotherapy in improving patient survival.
• How Long Patients Lived: Patients who were treated with Cemiplimab 31% lower risk of death compared to those who received chemotherapy. The average survival time for the Cemiplimab group was 12 months, while it was 8.5 months for the chemotherapy group.
• Cancer Control: Cemiplimab also did a better job of keeping the cancer from getting worse for a longer time. The cancer was stopped or slowed down in more patients who received Cemiplimab than in those who had chemotherapy.
Conclusion
The EMPOWER-Cervical 1 trial offers hope for patients with advanced cervical cancer. The study showed that Cemiplimab can help patients live longer and slow down the growth of the cancer more effectively than traditional chemotherapy. With patients living 31% longer and having more time before their cancer worsened, Cemiplimab could become an important new treatment for those who have few other options. Continued research will help confirm these findings and help doctors understand which patients benefit the most from this treatment.
References:
1. Tewari, K. S., Monk, B. J., Vergote, I., Miller, A., de Melo, A. C., Kim, H. S., Kim, Y. M., Lisyanskaya, A., Samouëlian, V., Lorusso, D., Damian, F., Chang, C. L., Gotovkin, E. A., Takahashi, S., Ramone, D., Pikiel, J., Maćkowiak-Matejczyk, B., Guerra Alía, E. M., Colombo, N., Makarova, Y., … Investigators for GOG Protocol 3016 and ENGOT Protocol En-Cx9 (2022). Survival with Cemiplimab in Recurrent Cervical Cancer. The New England journal of medicine, 386(6), 544–555. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa2112187