Page 176 - EJMO-9-2

Eurasian Journal of Medicine

and Oncology

ORIGINAL RESEARCH ARTICLE
Efficacy of programmed cell death protein 1/

programmed death ligand 1 inhibitors as first-
line treatment for advanced cervical cancer:

A multicenter retrospective study

Min Wang 1† , Xiao Li 2† , Dian Wang 1 , Ning Su 3 , and Haifeng Qiu *
1
1 Department of Gynecology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Zhengzhou,
Henan, China
2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong,
China
3 Department of Gynecologic Oncology, The Affiliated Cancer Hospital of Zhengzhou University and
Henan Cancer Hospital, Zhengzhou, Henan, China

Abstract
† These authors contributed equally
to this work. The KEYNOTE-A18 trial recently demonstrated the benefits of first-line treatment
with programmed cell death protein 1/programmed death ligand 1 (PD-1/PD-L1)
*Corresponding author:
Haifeng Qiu inhibitors for advanced cervical cancer. Herein, we investigated this using real-world
(fccqiuhf@zzu.edu.cn) data from a large Chinese cohort. From January 2020 to June 2023, 91 patients
Citation: Wang M, Li X, diagnosed with advanced cervical cancer receiving first-line systemic therapy
Wang D, Su N, Qiu H. Efficacy of incorporating PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors were recruited as the treatment group, while
programmed cell death protein 101 patients who did not receive PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors were included as the control
1/programmed death ligand 1
inhibitors as first-line treatment group. Baseline characteristics, including patient age, the International Federation
for advanced cervical cancer: of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage, histological subtypes, tumor diameter,
A multicenter retrospective study. PD-L1 expression, overall survival (OS), and progression-free survival (PFS), were
Eurasian J Med Oncol.
2025;9(2):168-180. extracted from the medical records. Survival analysis was performed utilizing the
doi: 10.36922/ejmo.8074 Kaplan-Meier curve and Cox regression analysis was used to compare the effects
Received: December 19, 2024 of different factors on patients’ survival. The addition of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors
significantly prolonged PFS compared to the control group (median PFS: 19 vs.
1st revised: January 22, 2025 11 months, p=0.000). Stratified analysis showed that higher expression of PD-L1
2nd revised: March 2, 2025 (median PFS: 14 vs. 14 months, p=0.031), earlier FIGO stage (median PFS: 20 vs.
Accepted: March 21, 2025 11 months, p=0.000), and tumor diameter ≤4 cm (median PFS: 47 vs. 12 months,
p=0.000) were associated with a better PFS. No statistical difference was detected
Published online: April 4, 2025 in OS between the two groups. In the stage IVB subgroup, PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors
Copyright: © 2025 Author(s). showed no benefits in either OS or PFS. Moreover, Cox regression analysis showed
This is an Open-Access article that only the use of PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors was associated with prolonged PFS (hazard
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution ratio = 0.43, 95% confidence interval 0.30 – 0.61, p=0.000). The first-line treatment
License, permitting distribution, containing PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors significantly delayed tumor recurrence, especially
and reproduction in any medium, for those with positive expression of PD-L1 and relatively small tumors.
provided the original work is
properly cited.
Publisher’s Note: AccScience Keywords: Programmed cell death protein 1/programmed death ligand 1 inhibitors;
Publishing remains neutral with Advanced cervical cancer; First-line treatment; The International Federation of
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional Gynecology and Obstetrics stage; Programmed death ligand 1 status; Tumor diameter
affiliations.

Volume 9 Issue 2 (2025) 168 doi:10.36922/ejmo.8074