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Prognostic immunologic signatures in epithelial ovarian cancer

Abstract

Epithelial Ovarian Cancer (EOC) is a deadly gynecologic malignancy in which patients frequently develop recurrent disease following initial platinum-taxane chemotherapy. Analogous to many other cancer subtypes, EOC clinical trials have centered upon immunotherapeutic approaches, most notably programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) inhibitors. While response rates to these immunotherapies in EOC patients have been low, evidence suggests that ovarian tumors are immunogenic and that immune-related genomic profiles can serve as prognostic markers. This review will discuss recent advances in the development of immune-based prognostic signatures in EOC that predict patient clinical outcomes, as well as emphasize specific research areas that need to be addressed to drive this field forward.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Swim Across America and The Program in Women’s Oncology at Women and Infants Hospital of Rhode Island.

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NER and JRR conceptually developed this manuscript. NER and MW performed literature reviews. NER wrote the manuscript in its entirety, and JRR edited it.

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Correspondence to Jennifer R. Ribeiro.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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James, N.E., Woodman, M. & Ribeiro, J.R. Prognostic immunologic signatures in epithelial ovarian cancer. Oncogene 41, 1389–1396 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41388-022-02181-5

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