Dr. Leath Discusses Unmet Need in Cervical Cancer

Charles A. Leath III, MD, gyn oncologist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, discusses the glaring unmet need in cervical cancer.

A large proportion of women are diagnosed with advanced stage cervical cancer, says Leath, and some of those patients will have metastatic disease at the time of their diagnosis. For these patients, there are limited treatment options available. Management of this cancer pales in comparison to that of ovarian cancer, which almost seems to have a limitless amount of options, he adds.

With cervical cancer, treatment is limited primarily to chemotherapy with or without bevacizumab (Avastin) based on clinical trial data, Leath says. Although combination treatment with bevacizumab has been shown to prolong survival in these patients compared with chemotherapy alone, patients will recur, as this is not a curative therapy, he explains. After that recurrence, there is only 1 FDA-approved agent available: pembrolizumab (Keytruda).

Leath adds that although there are other therapies that can potentially be considered, there’s a clear unmet need in these patients in terms of findings alternative, more effective therapies.

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