Dr. Matulonis on the Need to Improve Immunotherapy Responses in Gynecologic Cancers

Ursula A. Matulonis, MD, a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, as well as a medical oncologist and chief of the Division of Gynecologic Oncology of the Susan F. Smith Center for Women's Cancers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, discusses the need to improve responses to immunotherapy among patients with recurrent gynecologic cancers.

Currently, the survival rates of patients with recurrent endometrial and cervical cancers are worsening in the United States, says Matulonis. As such, it is important to develop therapeutic strategies aimed at improving outcomes for patients with these malignancies, as well as for women with recurrent ovarian cancer, Matulonis explains.

Although incremental progress had been made with immunotherapy, the majority of patients have low response rates, Matulonis says. Understanding which patients are most likely to respond to immunotherapy, as well as improving upon current immunotherapeutic strategies, may increase the utility of the therapy in patients with recurrent gynecologic cancers, concludes Matulonis.