Adoptive Immune-Cell Therapy for the Treatment of Neuroendocrine Carcinoma of the Uterine Cervix

Anticancer Res. 2020 Aug;40(8):4741-4748. doi: 10.21873/anticanres.14475.

Abstract

Background/aim: We aimed to investigate the efficacy of immune-cell therapy in terms of the survival of patients with neuroendocrine carcinoma of the uterine cervix (NECC), which lacks standardized therapeutic approaches.

Patients and methods: We identified 17 patients who were diagnosed as having NECC and treated with immune-cell therapy. The clinical characteristics of these patients were extracted from their records and their overall survival was measured.

Results: Of the 17 patients, two patients with early-stage NECC without recurrence and three patients with less than four treatments were excluded. The median survival times from the time of diagnosis and from the initial administration of immune-cell therapy were 49.7 and 24.4 months, respectively. The overall survival rates at 1, 2, and 5 years were 63.6%, 38.2%, and 25.5%, respectively. Long-term survival was observed in the patients with distant metastases.

Conclusion: The preliminary results of this retrospective study suggested the potential efficacy of immune-cell therapy for NECC.

Keywords: Neuroendocrine carcinoma; T-cells; adoptive immunotherapy; carcinoma of the uterine cervix; cellular immunotherapy; immunotherapy.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine / immunology*
  • Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine / pathology
  • Carcinoma, Neuroendocrine / therapy*
  • Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy / methods
  • Cervix Uteri / pathology*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Immunotherapy, Adoptive / methods
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / immunology
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / pathology
  • Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / therapy
  • Neoplasm Staging / methods
  • Prognosis
  • Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / immunology*
  • Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / pathology
  • Uterine Cervical Neoplasms / therapy*