Published on 09/16/2024 at 4:19 p.m., updated on 09/16/2024 at 4:19 p.m.
Lecture 2 min.
After four years of study, the Hospices Civils de Lyon have validated a new treatment to treat a little-known form of pregnancy cancer, called gestational trophoblastic tumors, with an “extremely rare success rate.”
The figure is unexpected in medicine. On Saturday, September 14, during the annual congress of the European Society of Medical Oncology in Barcelona, the National Reference Center for Trophoblastic Diseases of the Hospices Civils de Lyon (HCL) presented a new treatment against a form of pregnancy cancer, gestational trophoblastic tumors.. This would have worked on 25 out of 26 patients, thus offering a cure rate of 96%. Almost flawless.
What are gestational trophoblastic tumors?
According to the HCL website, gestational trophoblastic diseases constitute “a broad spectrum of tumor pathologies derived from placental tissue.” The most common form (1 pregnancy per 1000 in France) is the hydatidiform mole. “It is initially benign and resembles an early pregnancy, but the embryo does not develop, only the placenta proliferates.”
In 20% of cases, however, it transforms into a so-called “low risk” gestational trophoblastic tumor (GTT), often metastatic and potentially fatal.
Combining immunotherapy and chemotherapy could eradicate the disease
For 4 years, Professors Benoît You and Pierre-Adrien Bolze, respectively oncologist and gynecological surgeon, have decided to launch TROPHAMET, a clinical trial combining immunotherapy and chemotherapy (methotrexate) in order to treat the category of “low risk” gestational trophoblastic tumors (GTT).
The cleverly designed dual therapy set up for each patient involves an injection of methotrexate every other day for a week, repeated in this way every two weeks, and, on the first day of chemo, an injection of avelumab (every two weeks, therefore). Then, the level of hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin, produced during pregnancy) is monitored every week.As long as this hormone is present at abnormal levels, this indicates that the disease is active. As soon as the level returns to normal, we start again with three final treatments, i.e. six weeks, then we stop all treatments.“, describes Professor Jean Pierre Lotz, head of the Parisian research center (Tenon Hospital, APHP).
The last phase of their trial thus made it possible to treat 25 out of 26 patients.
“The professors suspected that the combination of the two types of treatment would produce interesting results. But not to the point of approaching a 100% cure rate, rarely achieved in the history of cancer research, whatever it may be (…) This is an exceptional result (…) This is one of the first times that we are talking about the eradication of a cancer” announces the official press release.
Access to the drug will take time
Excellent news, and a promising treatment, but which will still need a little time to be accessible. The study will not be published until 2025. Contacted by the weekly Lyon Tribune On site in Barcelona, Benoit You, however, hopes to be able to speed things up: “We will see if we can benefit from earlier access called compassionate, go to the European and American health authorities to obtain rapid marketing authorisations. There is also the question of reimbursement. We can imagine discussions on a case-by-case basis by establishment, patient by patient. But all this will take time, at least a year.”
