Immunotherapy: Scientists uncover strategies to forecast treatment successes
Every year, scientists strive to develop innovative treatments against cancer, one of the latest being immunotherapy. However, it's not a universal solution for every individual or cancer type. To address this challenge, researchers from Johns Hopkins University have recently identified a specific subset of tumor mutations that may indicate a tumor's receptiveness to immunotherapy.
These persistent mutations, as the researchers term them, are less likely to disappear as the cancer evolves. This visibility to the immune system is vital for a positive response to immunotherapy, potentially aiding doctors in more accurately selecting patients for treatment and better predicting outcomes.
The findings were published in the journal Nature Medicine.
Immunotherapy works by leveraging the body's immune system to combat disease. Typically, cancer cells evolve mutations that help them evade the immune system. Immunotherapy provides a boost, making it easier for the immune system to detect and destroy these cancer cells.
Presently, immunotherapy is a treatment option for several cancer types, such as breast cancer, melanoma, leukemia, and non-small cell lung cancer. Researchers are also investigating its use for other types, like prostate cancer, brain cancer, and ovarian cancer.
Currently, doctors use the total number of mutations in a tumor, known as the tumor mutational burden (TMB), to predict a tumor's response to immunotherapy. In this study, the researchers discovered that persistent mutations within the overall TMB are more effective indicators of a positive response to immunotherapy.
"Persistent mutations are always there in cancer cells, and these mutations may render the cancer cells continuously visible to the immune system, thus eliciting an anti-tumor response," said Dr. Valsamo Anagnostou, a senior author of the study and an associate professor of oncology at Johns Hopkins.
The researchers believe these findings could help doctors more accurately select patients for immunotherapy and better predict treatment outcomes.
In an interview with Medical News Today, Dr. Kim Margolin, a medical oncologist and medical director of the Saint John's Cancer Institute Melanoma Program, said the study represented significant progress in cancer immunotherapy research.
"Persistent mutations and mutation-associated neo-antigens are likely the most important determinants of an effective anticancer immune response stimulated by the immunotherapeutic agents in use," Margolin said. She further emphasized that these findings could lead to the development of more precise immunotherapy strategies tailored to each patient's tumor mutational landscape.
This advance could potentially revolutionize cancer treatment, personalizing therapies for individual patients and improving clinical outcomes.
- The researchers from Johns Hopkins University have identified specific persistent mutations in tumors that may indicate a tumor's receptiveness to immunotherapy.
- These persistent mutations, as essential indicators of a positive response to immunotherapy, could aid doctors in more accurately selecting patients for treatment and better predicting outcomes.
- In the study, the researchers found that persistent mutations within the overall Tumor Mutational Burden (TMB) are more effective indicators of a positive response to immunotherapy.
- The findings could lead to the development of more precise immunotherapy strategies tailored to each patient's tumor mutational landscape, potentially revolutionizing cancer treatment and personalizing therapies for individual patients.
