# TROPHIMMUN cohort A: avelumab in gestational trophoblastic tumours resistant to single-agent chemotherapy

Source: https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-trophimmun-avelumab-chemoresistant-gtn-you-jco-2020/  
OnCo record `paper-trophimmun-avelumab-chemoresistant-gtn-you-jco-2020` (Key paper). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

The PD-L1 antibody avelumab cured about half of women whose gestational trophoblastic tumour had stopped responding to single-drug chemotherapy, with mild side effects.

## Summary

Single-arm phase 2 trial at the Hospices Civils de Lyon: 15 women with gestational trophoblastic tumours resistant to methotrexate (all) or actinomycin D received avelumab 10 mg/kg every two weeks until hCG normalised and for three further cycles.

Eight women (53.3 percent) reached normal hCG after a median of nine cycles and none relapsed at a median follow-up of 25 months; one later had a healthy pregnancy. Grade 1 to 2 treatment-related adverse events occurred in 93 percent (fatigue, nausea or vomiting, infusion reactions); the seven non-responders were cured with actinomycin D or combination chemotherapy and surgery.

## Fields

- Kind: Key paper
- Last checked: 2026-09-22
- Journal: Journal of Clinical Oncology
- Year: 2020
- DOI: 10.1200/JCO.20.00803
- Authors: You B, Bolze PA, Lotz JP, et al.
- Findings: hCG normalisation in 8 of 15 women (53.3 percent) after a median of 9 cycles; no subsequent relapse.; Grade 1 to 2 treatment-related adverse events in 93 percent; one unrelated grade 3 uterine bleed.
- What it means: Avelumab is a chemotherapy-sparing option for single-agent-resistant gestational trophoblastic neoplasia, particularly where the alternative is combination chemotherapy.
- Caveats: Fifteen patients; cohort B later showed little activity after combination chemotherapy failure.

## Sources

- J Clin Oncol 2020: https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.20.00803
- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32716740/

## Connected records

- cancers: [Gestational trophoblastic neoplasia](https://onco.cc/cancers/gestational-trophoblastic/), [Low-risk gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (FIGO score 0 to 6)](https://onco.cc/cancers/low-risk-gtn/)
- drugs: [Avelumab](https://onco.cc/drugs/avelumab/)
- trials: [TROPHIMMUN](https://onco.cc/trials/trophimmun/)
- journals: [Journal of Clinical Oncology](https://onco.cc/journals/jco/)

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