Purpose: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) have been a potential treatment option for patients with cervical cancer in several clinical studies. We investigated the safety and efficacy of cadonilimab, a bispecific antibody targeting PD-1 and CTLA-4, plus standard therapy for the first-line treatment of R/M CC (recurrent and/or metastatic cervical cancer). Patients and Methods: Eligible patients were assigned to 3 cohorts: cohort A-15 (cadonilimab 15 mg/kg every 3 weeks (Q3W) plus chemotherapy), cohort A-10 (cadonilimb 10 mg/kg Q3W plus chemotherapy), and cohort B-10 (cadonilimab 10 mg/kg Q3W plus chemotherapy and bevacizumab). They received the corresponding treatments until disease progression, unacceptable toxicity, withdrawal of consent, or investigator decision. The primary objective was safety; the secondary endpoints included objective overall response (ORR), duration of response, disease control rate, progression-free survival, and overall survival. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04868708). Results: As of February 13, 2023, treatment-related adverse events (TRAE) occurred in 45 (100.0%) patients. Grade ≥3 TRAEs were reported in 33 (73.3%) patients. Immune-related adverse events (irAE) occurred in 29 (64.4%) patients and grade ≥3 irAEs were observed in 9 (20.0%) patients. Seven (15.6%) of 45 patients permanently discontinued cadonilimab treatment due to TRAEs. One death due to hemorrhagic shock occurred in cohort B-10. Among 44 patients who underwent at least one post-baseline tumor assessment, the ORR was 66.7% in cohort A-15, 68.8% in cohort A-10, 92.3% in cohort B-10, and 79.3% in cohorts A-10 and B-10 combined. Conclusions: Cadonilimab combined with standard therapy was acceptable, with encouraging antitumor activity in patients with R/M CC.

Thapa N, et al. J Gynecol Oncol. 2018 Mar;29(4):e57. https://doi.org/10.3802/jgo.2018.29.e57

We aimed to assess the quality of life (QOL) of the patients with cervical cancer after initial treatment, the factors affecting QOL and their clinical relevance. A total of 256 patients with cervical cancer who visited Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University from January 2017 to December 2017 were enrolled in this study. The European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core-30 item (EORTC QLQ-C30) and cervical cancer module (EORTC QLQ-CX24) was used to assess the QOL of patients. More than half of the patients with cervical cancer reported an excellent QOL. Symptoms mostly experienced were insomnia, constipation, financial difficulties, and menopausal symptoms. Global QOL and social functioning were statistically associated with education level, occupation, the area of living, family income and treatment modality. Similarly, role functioning showed significant association with the stage of cancer, treatment modality and time since diagnosis. The rural area of living and poor economic status of the patients with cervical cancer has a negative impact on overall quality of life. Younger and educated patients are more worried about sexuality. Patients treated with multiple therapies had more problems with their QOL scales than patients treated with surgery only.

106 Background: Current first-line standard therapy (SOC) for R/M CC is platinum-based chemotherapy +/- bevacizumab (bev). AK104 monotherapy has shown promising efficacy and tolerable toxicity in pretreated R/M CC (NCT04380805). In this study, we report the efficacy and safety of AK104 combined with SOC for the first-line treatment of R/M CC (NCT04868708). Methods: The multicenter, open-label, phase II study enrolled R/M CC pts without previous systemic therapy. Eligible pathological types were squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, or adenosquamous cell carcinoma. Pts were assigned to 3 cohorts (A-15/A-10: AK104 15/10 mg/kg + PTX 175mg/m² + DDP 50 mg/m²/CBP AUC 5, q3w; B-10: AK104 10 mg/kg + PTX 175 mg/m² + DDP 50 mg/m²/CBP AUC 5 + bev 15 mg/kg, q3w). All pts received AK104 until PD or unacceptable toxicity. The primary endpoint was safety. Secondary endpoints included ORR, PFS per RECIST1.1, and OS, etc. Results: 45 pts were enrolled at 6 centers from Jun 3, 2021, to Nov 5, 2021. As of Jan 10, 2022, we assessed safety in all pts and efficacy in pts with at least one tumor assessment result. TRAEs of any grade occurred in 43 (95.6%) pts. Grade ≥3 TRAEs occurred in 23 (51.1%) pts. The most common TRAEs were anemia (55.6%), white blood cell count decreased (46.7%), rash (24.4%), and hypoesthesia (24.4%). The most common grade ≥ 3 TRAEs were anemia (15.6%), white blood cell count decreased (11.1%), neutrophil count decreased (8.9%), and platelet count decreased (8.9%). TRSAE occurred in 17 (37.8%) pts. IrAEs of any grade, assessed by INV, occurred in 24 (53.3%) pts. Grade ≥ 3 irAE occurred in 8 (17.8%) pts. One death due to hemorrhagic shock occurred in cohort B-10 and was judged as treatment-related. ORR were 73.3% (11/15) for A-15, 68.8% (11/16) for A-10, 92.3% (12/13) for B-10, respectively. The response to the treatment was favorable regardless of CPS (Table). PFS or OS data are not mature by cut-off date. Conclusions: AK104 combined with standard therapy was well tolerated, with encouraging antitumor activity in pts with R/M CC. Meanwhile, long-term safety evaluation still needs following up. A phase III trial is ongoing to evaluate the efficacy of AK104 plus standard therapy in first-line treatment for R/M CC (NCT04982237). Clinical trial information: NCT04868708. [Table: see text]

The epigenetic regulation of gene functions has been proven to be strongly associated with the development and progression of cancer. Reprogramming the cancer epigenome landscape is one of the most promising target therapies in both treatments and in reversing drug resistance. Proteolytic targeted chimeras (PROTACs) are an emerging therapeutic modality for selective degradation via the native ubiquitin-proteasome system. Rapid advances in PROTACs have facilitated the exploration of targeting epigenetic proteins, a lot of PROTAC degraders have already been designed in the field of epigenetic cancer therapy, and PROTACs targeting epigenetic proteins can better exploit target druggability and improve the mechanistic understanding of the epigenetic regulation of cancer. Thus, this review focuses on the progress made in the development of PROTAC degraders and PROTAC drugs targeting epigenetics in cancer and discusses challenges and future opportunities for the field.