Predicting Immunotherapy Responses: Scientists Discover Methods to Forecast Treatment Success
In the world of cancer treatments, immunotherapy offers a cutting-edge approach, boosting the body's immune system to combat the disease effectively. However, it's not a silver bullet, as not all people and cancers can benefit from this treatment. Recently, researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Maryland have uncovered a significant breakthrough.
They've identified a specific subset of mutations within cancer tumors, which they call "persistent mutations." These mutations, unlike others, tend to stick around as the cancer evolves, ensuring the tumor remains "visible" to the immune system. This visibility results in a better response to immunotherapy.
Doctors currently use the overall number of mutations in a tumor, known as the tumor mutation burden (TMB), to predict a tumor's response to immunotherapy. However, the Johns Hopkins team found that the number of "persistent mutations" provides a more accurate indication of a tumor's receptiveness to immunotherapy.
In their study published in Nature Medicine, the researchers believe that their findings will enable doctors to more accurately select people for immunotherapy and better predict treatment outcomes.
What is Immunotherapy?
Immunotherapy leverages the body's immune system to combat disease. Typically, cancer cells develop mutations that help them evade the immune system. With immunotherapy, the immune system receives a boost, making it easier for it to locate and destroy cancer cells.
There are several types of immunotherapy, including checkpoint inhibitors, CAR T-cell therapy, cancer vaccines, and oncolytic viruses.
The Impact on Cancer Patients
These findings have the potential to revolutionize the way cancer patients are selected for immunotherapy. In the not-too-distant future, high-throughput, next-generation sequencing techniques could be used to study patients' mutational spectrum. This information would help categorize patients by their likelihood of response to immunotherapy, paving the way for more effective, personalized treatments.
When asked about the study, Dr. Kim Margolin, a medical oncologist, expressed her enthusiasm, stating, "It was refreshing to see this incredible article demonstrating that a highly-respective collaborative group has gone way beyond the simple concept of tumor mutation burden and to define persistent mutations, loss of mutation-containing sequences, and in a new light."
As we continue to unravel the mysteries of cancer, advancements in immunotherapy could hold the key to making cancer a manageable, chronic condition rather than a death sentence.
References
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[3] Lewis, J. D., Vardon, G. O., & Sosman, J. A. (2020). Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) inhibition in non-small cell lung cancer. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
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- This breakthrough in science, discovered by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, has the potential to revolutionize the selection of patients for immunotherapy in medical-conditions like cancer.
- The researchers found that a specific subset of mutations within cancer tumors, referred to as "persistent mutations," provides a more accurate indication of a tumor's receptiveness to immunotherapy, as these mutations tend to persist as the cancer evolves, making the tumor more visible to the immune system.
- With high-throughput, next-generation sequencing techniques, doctors could in the future categorize patients by their likelihood of response to immunotherapy, paving the way for more personalized, effective treatments in health-and-wellness.
