Dr. Ledermann on the Treatment Landscape for Rare Gynecologic Cancers

Jonathan Ledermann, MD, professor of medical oncology, UCL Cancer Institute, London, United Kingdom, discusses the treatment landscape for patients with rare gynecologic cancers.

There is evidence supporting the use of chemotherapy and hormone therapy for the management of rare epithelial cancer, although new concepts for clinical trials are being developed globally. Since these are rare tumors, it is important to work collaboratively on a global scale for the investigation of hormone therapy as an initial therapy for low-grade serous cancers, says Ledermann.

According to Ledermann, there are difficulties in treating clear cell cancer since chemotherapy does not work well. Clinicians are still using chemotherapy, but there is little evidence of benefit. However, there are some genomics and molecular changes that are being picked up in these tumors, which may provide potential targets for novel therapies.