ESMO Asia 2025 | Does immunotherapy have a role in treating gestational trophoblastic disease?
Ruangsak Lertkhachonsuk, MD, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand, comments on the limitations of traditional chemotherapy in treating gestational trophoblastic disease and highlights the potential of immunotherapy as a new approach. High expression of PD-L1 in these tumors makes them amenable to immunotherapy, which has shown promising results in clinical trials with reduced toxicity, but its high cost and limited reimbursement currently restrict its use to a small population. This interview took place at 2025 European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Asia Congress in Singapore, Singapore.
These works are owned by Magdalen Medical Publishing (MMP) and are protected by copyright laws and treaties around the world. All rights are reserved.
Transcript
Yes, normally in the traditional way, when patients are refractory to the conventional chemotherapy, like combination chemotherapy, we have implemented a concept of the germ cell tumor to treat with more intense chemotherapy, like high-dose chemotherapy with peripheral stem cell transplant, which has not had a good outcome. So we found a new way because gestational trophoblastic disease is derived from the placenta, which has an abundance of immune signals like PD-L1 expression...
Yes, normally in the traditional way, when patients are refractory to the conventional chemotherapy, like combination chemotherapy, we have implemented a concept of the germ cell tumor to treat with more intense chemotherapy, like high-dose chemotherapy with peripheral stem cell transplant, which has not had a good outcome. So we found a new way because gestational trophoblastic disease is derived from the placenta, which has an abundance of immune signals like PD-L1 expression. So it’s strongly expressed in every kind of tumor in this spectrum. So immunotherapy can be implemented to treat. And also, a few clinical trials showed a very good result with less toxicity. But the limitation is due to the cost of the immunotherapy and also reimbursement. So this treatment is still limited to a very small group of the population.
This transcript is AI-generated. While we strive for accuracy, please verify this copy with the video.
Read more...
