Immunotherapy Outcomes Prediction: Scientists Discover Methods to Forecast Results
Immunotherapy: The New Frontier Against Cancer
In the never-ending quest to conquer cancer, scientists continue to explore innovative treatment options. One of the latest additions to this arsenal is immunotherapy.
However, it's important to note that not all cancers and individuals respond to immunotherapy. Researchers are constantly searching for the elusive answers as to what makes a tumor susceptible to immunotherapy.
Recently, scientists at Johns Hopkins University have made a groundbreaking discovery that could revolutionize the way we approach immunotherapy. They've identified a specific pattern of mutations within a cancer tumor that suggests its receptiveness to immunotherapy.
The researchers believe their findings will enable doctors to more accurately select patients for immunotherapy and better predict its outcome. Their research was recently published in the journal Nature Medicine.
What Exactly is Immunotherapy?
Immunotherapy is a treatment approach that enlists the body's immune system to combat the disease. Typically, cancer cells develop mutations that allow them to escape detection by the immune system. Immunotherapy provides a boost to the immune system, making it easier for it to detect and destroy cancer cells.
There are several types of immunotherapy, including:
- Immune checkpoint inhibitors
- CAR T-cell therapy
- Oncolytic viruses
- Vaccines
- Adoptive cell transfer
The Secret to a Successful Immunotherapy: Persistent Mutations
Currently, doctors use the total number of mutations in a tumor, known as the tumor mutational burden (TMB), to try to determine how a tumor will respond to immunotherapy.
However, Dr. Valsamo Anagnostou, senior author of the study and an associate professor of oncology at Johns Hopkins, along with her team, have found a specific subset of mutations within the overall TMB - which they called "persistent mutations" - that are less likely to disappear as a cancer evolves.
These persistent mutations leave the cancer tumor visible to the immune system, improving the response to immunotherapy. The number of persistent mutations is a better indicator of a tumor's responsiveness to immune checkpoint blockade compared to the overall TMB.
The Future of Immunotherapy: Precision Medicine
The findings from this study could pave the way for a more accurate method of selecting patients for immunotherapy and predicting its outcome. Dr. Kim Margolin, a medical oncologist, expressed excitement about the study's potential impact on cancer treatment.
In the near future, she believes high-throughput, next-generation sequencing techniques will be used to study patients' mutational spectrum to categorize them by their likelihood of response to immunotherapy. This could lead to personalized treatment plans for advanced cancer patients.
Ultimately, this research could revolutionize how we approach immunotherapy, moving beyond mere prognostic indicators towards predictive factors that can interact with the therapy and the cancer itself.
Key Insights
- A subset of mutations within a cancer tumor called "persistent mutations" is a better predictor of a tumor's receptiveness to immunotherapy compared to the overall tumor mutational burden (TMB).
- High-throughput, next-generation sequencing techniques could be used to study patients' mutational spectrum in the future, allowing for more accurate patient selection for immunotherapy and improved prediction of its outcome.
- The findings from this study align with several mutation subsets that indicate a tumor's receptiveness to immunotherapy, including high TMB, DNAH gene mutations, RNA splicing factor mutations, high PD-L1 expression & immune gene signatures, and the absence of certain driver mutations such as EGFR or ALK.
- The newly discovered 'persistent mutations' within cancer tumors are believed to be a better determinant of a tumor's response to immunotherapy compared to the overall tumor mutational burden (TMB).
- Scientists are exploring the use of high-throughput, next-generation sequencing techniques to study patients' mutational spectrum in the future, aiming to categorize them based on their likelihood of response to immunotherapy.
- The identification of 'persistent mutations' could revolutionize the way we approach immunotherapy, potentially moving from prognostic indicators towards predictive factors that interact with the therapy and the cancer itself.
- Some mutation subsets that hint at a tumor's responsiveness to immunotherapy include high TMB, DNAH gene mutations, RNA splicing factor mutations, high PD-L1 expression, immune gene signatures, and the absence of certain driver mutations such as EGFR or ALK.
- The field of science and medical-conditions is constantly evolving with new discoveries, such as the 'persistent mutations,' that offer hope for battle against cancer and advancements in health-and-wellness.
- Immunotherapy, as a system of boosting the body's immune response to combat diseases like cancer, has emerged as an essential tool in the ongoing science of health and wellness.
