Immunotherapy Outcome Prediction: Scientists Reveal Methods for Foretelling Responses
Year in and year out, the scientific community is inventing fresh methods to tackle the unwanted guest known as cancer. One of the cutting-edge approaches being developed is immunotherapy.
Immunotherapy harnesses the body's own immune system to combat the disease. Typically, cancer cells develop mutations enabling them to evade detection by the immune system. Immunotherapy helps strengthen the immune system, making it simpler for it to locate and eliminate cancer cells.
At present, immunotherapy only serves as a treatment for certain types of cancer such as breast cancer, melanoma, leukemia, and non-small cell lung cancer. Scientists are looking to expand its usage to other types, including prostate cancer, brain cancer, and ovarian cancer.
Recently, researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Maryland declared they discovered a specific subset of mutations within cancer tumors that could indicate the tumor's susceptibility to immunotherapy.
These researchers believe their findings will empower doctors to more accurately choose patients for immunotherapy and better predict outcomes from the treatment. Their study was published in the journal Nature Medicine.
What is immunotherapy?
Immunotherapy involves enlisting the body's immune system to fight against the disease. Once cancer cells acquire mutations, they swiftly become able to hide from the body's immune system.
Immunotherapyboosts the immune system's power, making it more efficient in locating and vanquishing cancer cells. There are various types of immunotherapy, including:
- Checkpoint inhibitors
- Cancer vaccines
- Oncolytic viruses
- Adoptive T-cell therapy
Examining Mutations
Currently, doctors consider the overall number of mutations in a tumor—called the tumor mutational burden (TMB)—to gauge how well a tumor might respond to immunotherapy.
"Tumor mutation burden embodies the number of alterations in the genetic materials, particularly within the DNA sequence of cancer cells, known as mutations," said Dr. Valsamo Anagnostou, a senior author of the study and an associate professor of oncology at Johns Hopkins, the director of the thoracic oncology biorepository, and co-leader of the Johns Hopkins Molecular Tumor Board and the Lung Cancer Precision Medicine Center of Excellence.
However, according to the research team, it wasn't sufficient to simply rely on the overall TMB to predict a tumor's reactivity to immunotherapy. They then identified a specific subset of mutations—which they called "persistent mutations"—within the overall TMB. Persistent mutations tend to persist in the tumor, keeping the tumor visible to the immune system and enhancing its receptivity to immunotherapy.
Hinting at the future
Dr. Kim Margolin, a medical oncologist and medical director of the Saint John's Cancer Institute Melanoma Program at Providence Saint John's Health Center in California, believes this research could revolutionize the way cancer patients are selected for immunotherapy in the future.
These findings reveal that specific persistent mutations could help determine a patient's likely response to immunotherapy. This information could prove invaluable in customizing treatment plans for cancer patients and enhancing the likelihood of successful outcomes.
Immunotherapy strengthens the immune system, making it easier for the body to locate and eliminate cancer cells. This form of treatment is currently used for specific medical conditions like breast cancer, melanoma, leukemia, and non-small cell lung cancer, with researchers aiming to expand its use to other types.
Recent findings from Johns Hopkins University suggest that certain persistent mutations within cancer tumors could indicate the tumor's susceptibility to immunotherapy, thereby aiding doctors in more accurately choosing patients for immunotherapy and predicting treatment outcomes.
Implementing this new insight into the decision-making process regarding immunotherapy could potentially revolutionize the treatment of various health-and-wellness concerns, such as cancer.
