Endometrial cancer is a genetic condition that starts in the uterus, which is called the endometrium. Symptoms include abnormal vaginal bleeding, pelvic pain, and weight loss, although it isn't known exactly how it might be diagnosed. Depending on the cause, treatment options may include surgery, radiation therapy, and chemotherapy.
The addition of pembrolizumab to chemotherapy in the NRG Oncology NRG-GY018 research has resulted in significantly improved progression free survival outcomes for women with advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer.
NRG-GY018, a Phase III clinical investigation evaluating pembrolizumab in combination with standard of care medication (carboplatin and paclitaxel), achieved its primary aim of progression free survival (PFS) for patients with stage III-IV or recurrent endometrial carcinoma, regardless of mismatch repair status. Pembrolizumab in combination with chemotherapy has demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically significant improvement in PFS in both study cohorts, mismatch repair deficient
NRG-GY018, a randomized, placebo-controlled experiment, enrolled 819 women with stage III-IV or recurrent endometrial cancer. Patients were randomly assigned to receive pembrolizumab combined with carboplatin and paclitaxel (for up to fourteen, 6-week cycles) or placebo combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel (for up to fourteen, 6-week cycles) or placebo maintenance.
Pembrolizumab in combination with carboplatin and paclitaxel improved PFS in both the dMMR and pMMR study populations. We look forward to presenting these exciting findings at an upcoming scientific congress."
The NRG Oncology SDMC grant U10CA180868 from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) was also supported by Merck & Co., Inc. through a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement with NCI. NRG-GY018 was funded under a partnership with The GOG Foundation d/b/a NRG Oncology Philadelphia East.
