Dr. Cosgrove on Utilizing Biomarker-Informed Treatments Endometrial Cancer

Casey M. Cosgrove, MD, gynecologic oncologist, member, Translational Therapeutics Program, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center–James, assistant professor, Department of Gynecologic Oncology, The Ohio State University College of Medicine, discusses utilizing biomarker-informed treatments in endometrial cancer.

Historically, treatment selection has been guided by histology and other disease features, Cosgrove says. Now however, it is possible to utilize molecular signatures to determine whether the cancers are at a high- or low-risk of recurrence, Cosgrove explains. Moreover, research suggest that certain markers can predict for higher-risk cancers, including markers such as p53 mutations and genomic alterations, Cosgrove adds.

Patients with high-risk features may benefit from extra treatment, Cosgrove continues. Moreover, the biomarker POLE is needed to help the DNA repair itself, Cosgrove explains. The presence of a POLE mutation allows a patient’s immune system, without any additional treatment, to fight cancer cells more efficiently, making these patients areless likely to recur, Cosgrove says.

A question that has been asked among groups is whether treating these patients can be forgone, even if they traditionally would have had higher-risk features, Cosgrove concludes.