2023-05-15 19:06:00
Endometrial cancer, the growth of cancer on the inner wall of the uterus, is on the rise. According to the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, the number of endometrial cancer patients increased by regarding 5,000 from 19,975 in 2018 to 24,787 last year. It is known that it mainly occurs in people in their 50s or older, but the age of occurrence is decreasing in the 20s and 30s. Risk factors include exposure to female hormones (estrogen), obesity, diabetes, family history, and polycystic ovary syndrome.
Hallym University Kangnam Sacred Heart Hospital Obstetrics and Gynecology Professor Park Seong-taek said on the 15th, “Abnormal vaginal bleeding is the most common early symptom of endometrial cancer. In particular, if there is vaginal bleeding following menopause, the probability of endometrial cancer is high.” If you experience irregular bleeding outside of your menstrual period, if your menstrual cycle is excessively irregular, or if your menstrual period is too long or heavy, it is also a good idea to visit a hospital.
If detected early, the prognosis is good, such as being cured in most cases, but in stage 3 or higher, the cure rate drops sharply and the recurrence rate is high, so caution is needed. In particular, 1 out of 4 endometrial cancer patients who received first-line chemotherapy experience recurrence or metastasis, and so far, there has been no effective treatment available for recurrence following first-line chemotherapy. There is no choice but to try once more with cytotoxic anticancer drugs, which have a treatment response rate of up to 10-15%, and in that case, it is reported that the average survival rate is less than 1 year and the 5-year survival rate is only 20%. In addition, due to the cumulative cytotoxicity of anticancer drugs, they experience more severe side effects and worse quality of life than in the first treatment.
In this situation, a new immuno-oncology drug (Gempery Inj.) has recently been approved in Korea, marking a turning point in the treatment of endometrial cancer. It is a principle that helps human immune cells (T cells) eliminate cancer cells, and has the advantage of having few side effects. It is an immuno-anticancer drug that has been approved for the first time in adult patients who are being treated with primary toxic anticancer drugs or have relapsed or progressed following treatment. It is applicable to patients of a specific type (dMMR/MSI-H) and accounts for 20-30% of all endometrial cancers. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recognized the urgency of patients’ use and designated it as a priority review and breakthrough therapy in 2021, and officially approved it in February.
The problem is the expensive drug price. The price of one injection is regarding 10,000 dollars (12 million won) in the US, so patients have to pay regarding 200 million won a year. Experts say that as new opportunities are provided for endometrial cancer treatment, rapid reimbursement is necessary to increase patient access.
Min Tae-won Medical Reporter
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