A novel treatment approach may improve outcomes in patients with recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer, according to new findings presented by Choi et al at the Society of Gynecologic Oncology (SGO) 2025 Annual Meeting on Women’s Cancer.
Recurrent cervical cancer remains a significant challenge, particularly among patients who have already received standard treatments.
Study Methods and Results
In the phase II trial, researchers evaluated the combination of a human papillomavirus (HPV)-specific therapeutic vaccine known as BVAVC-C and the PD-L1 inhibitor durvalumab in 30 patients with HPV-16/18–positive recurrent or metastatic cervical cancer who had relapsed following platinum-based chemotherapy.
The researchers observed an overall response rate of 37.9%, with five complete responses and six partial responses. The patients who had a treatment-free interval longer than 6 months exhibited an even higher overall response rate of 52.9%. The median progression-free survival was 8.7 months, and the 6-month progression-free survival rate was 51.7%.
Notably, 78% of the response-evaluable patients exhibited DNA vaccine-induced T-cell responses, indicating strong immune activation. The researchers reported that adverse events were mostly mild, with grade 3 to 4 adverse events occurring in only 13% of the patients.
Conclusions
Lead study author Chel Hun Choi, MD, PhD, of the Samsung Medical Center, and his colleagues emphasized that the results of their study provided encouraging evidence that combining the BVAC-C therapeutic vaccine with immune checkpoint inhibition may enhance response rates and disease control in this patient population.
Further studies involving larger trials may be necessary to confirm the findings and refine patient selection criteria.
Disclosure: For full disclosures of the study authors, visit sgo.org.
