Researchers Contribute to Practice-defining Clinical Trials

(Providence, RI) –The results of two clinical trials that now define the new standard of care for women with advanced-stage or recurrent endometrial cancer were presented at the recent Society of Gynecologic Oncology Annual Meeting. These trials demonstrated that adding immunotherapy to standard cytotoxic chemotherapy improved progression-free survival until cancer recurred, and early results suggested a long-term survival benefit.

“Treatment options for women with advanced endometrial cancer represent a true unmet need in our discipline. The ability to participate in these efforts is part of our commitment to improving outcomes for these patients,” said Dr. Ashley Stuckey. She is an Associate Professor in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Women and Infants Hospital, The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, and a faculty member at the Legorreta Cancer Center as well as a co-author on Dostarlimab for Primary Advanced or Recurrent Endometrial Cancer, recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine on March 27.  

Dr. Cara Mathews said, “There has been a great deal of enthusiasm for newer treatment options in cancer, such as immunotherapy, although positive trial results have been lacking in gynecologic cancer.  It is our commitment at Women and Infants Hospital to offer these opportunities to our patients, not only for their benefit but also for the benefit of women in the future.” Dr. Mathews is a co-author of Pembrolizumab plus Chemotherapy in Advanced Endometrial Cancer, also published in the New England Journal of Medicine. She is an Associate Professor in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Women and Infants Hospital and a faculty member at the Legorreta Cancer Center at Brown University.

Dr. Mathews also provided an encore presentation of Overall Survival with Maintenance Olaparib at a 7-year Follow-Up in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Advanced Ovarian Cancer and a BRCA Mutation: The SOLO1/GOG 3004 Trial.  These results were initially presented by Dr. Paul DiSilvestro, the Director of the Program in Women’s Oncology and a Professor in the Division of Gynecologic Oncology and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Women and Infants Hospital and a member of the Legorreta Cancer Center at Brown University at the European Society of Medical Oncology Annual Meeting in Paris, France, in September 2022.  Dr. DiSilvestro, the primary author of this manuscript which was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology in September 2022 said, “This trial previously demonstrated that the use of olaparib for these patients dramatically lengthened remission. The long-term results indicate that this treatment likely cures a substantial portion of women with advanced ovarian cancer and a BRCA mutation. This is groundbreaking for our discipline.”  


Dr. DiSilvestro states, “At Women and Infants Hospital, we not only focus on providing the most recent standard of care to our patients, but we are committed to being part of the effort to shape the future standard of care and work towards cures for patients with breast and gynecologic malignancies.” 

About Women & Infants Hospital
Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island, a Care New England hospital, is one of the nation’s leading specialty hospitals for women and newborns. A major teaching affiliate of The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University for obstetrics, gynecology, and newborn pediatrics, as well as a number of specialized programs in women’s medicine, Women & Infants is the ninth largest stand-alone obstetrical service in the country and the largest in New England with approximately 8,700 deliveries per year. Women & Infants is a Designated Baby-Friendly® USA hospital, a U.S.News & World Report 2014-15 Best Children’s Hospital in Neonatology, and a 2014 Leapfrog Top Hospital. The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology ranked number 11 in U.S. News & World Report’s 2019 Best Medical Schools specialty ranking.
Women & Infants has been designated as a Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiography; a Center of Excellence in Minimally Invasive Gynecology; Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence in Perinatal Biology and in Reproductive Health by the National Institutes of Health (NIH); and a Neonatal Resource Services Center of Excellence.  It is one of the largest and most prestigious research facilities in high-risk and normal obstetrics, gynecology, and newborn pediatrics in the nation, and is a member of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Maternal-Fetal Medicine Units Network, Neonatal Research Network, and Pelvic Floors Disorders Network, as well as the National Cancer Institute’s Gynecologic Oncology Group.