Improving Outcomes through Immune System Modulation in the Treatment of Gynecological Malignancies

The treatment of gynecological cancers continues to evolve with combination of different therapies. There has been a significant effort to induce stimulation of the immune system through treatment with interferons and interleukins in the past. More recently, the remarkable results of clinical trials demonstrating efficacy of checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapies in multiple cancer types has generated considerable interest within the gynecological community. Here, we review the findings of efforts to augment the humoral immune system and review the pre-clinical and clinical evidence for checkpoint inhibitors. The Abscopal effect, a phenomenon whereby localized radiation therapy results in immune mediated tumor regression in distant sites is currently also discussed in the context of gynecological cancers. The combination of various immunotherapies in gynecological cancer and emerging clinical evidence for the combinations may lead to improved treatment outcomes.