Treatment Breakthrough: Scientists Discover Methods to Forecast Immunotherapy Results
Immunotherapy, the newest weapon in the battle against cancer, isn't a silver bullet for everyone or every type of tumor. Researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, however, have made a groundbreaking discovery that could change the game. They've identified a specific subset of mutations in a cancer tumor, dubbed "persistent mutations," that allude to its receptivity to immunotherapy.
Researchers currently rely on the total number of mutations in a tumor, called the tumor mutation burden (TMB), to gauge a tumor's response to immunotherapy. But as Dr. Valsamo Anagnostou, senior author and associate professor of oncology at Johns Hopkins, explained, persistent mutations are a subset of the TMB that remain constant as cancer evolves. These mutations help the cancer tumor remain visible to the body's immune system, enhancing the response to immunotherapy.
Anagnostou's team believes their findings will aid doctors in selecting patients for immunotherapy more accurately and better predict outcomes from the treatment. Their research was recently published in the journal Nature Medicine.
Immune System to the Rescue
Immunotherapy leverages the body's immune system to combat cancer. Typically, cancer cells develop mutations that allow them to evade the immune system. Immunotherapy provides a boost to the immune system, making it easier for it to detect and eliminate cancer cells.
There are various types of immunotherapy in use or development. These include checkpoint inhibitors, CAR T-cell therapy, and vaccines, among others. Currently, immunotherapy is a treatment option for breast cancer, melanoma, leukemia, and non-small cell lung cancer. Researchers are exploring its potential for other types of cancer, such as prostate, brain, and ovarian cancer.
Future Outlook
The study's findings could pave the way for a more targeted approach to immunotherapy, allowing doctors to select patients based on their likelihood of response to the treatment and predict outcomes more accurately. Dr. Kim Margolin, a medical oncologist, praised the study, emphasizing the importance of persistent mutations in the immune response against cancer.
In the near future, high-throughput, next-generation sequencing techniques could be used to study patients' mutational spectrum, categorizing them based on their likelihood of responding to immunotherapy or deriving benefit from other treatments. As Margolin explained, these findings may eventually evolve from prognostic indicators to predictive factors that can interact with therapy and disease.
- Immunotherapy, a novel approach in cancer treatment, enhances the body's immune system's ability to combat cancer cells that have developed mutations to evade the system.
- The researchers from Johns Hopkins University have discovered a specific set of persistent mutations, which remain constant as cancer evolves, that increase a tumor's visibility to the immune system, improving the effectiveness of immunotherapy.
- By identifying these persistent mutations, doctors may be able to categorize patients more accurately for immunotherapy treatment and better predict the likelihood of responses to the treatment.
- Science continues to explore various types of immunotherapy, such as checkpoint inhibitors, CAR T-cell therapy, and vaccines, with some already in use for breast cancer, melanoma, leukemia, and non-small cell lung cancer.
- As research progresses, researchers aim to apply immunotherapy for other medical conditions like prostate, brain, and ovarian cancers, enhancing health and wellness for numerous patients.
- With advancements in high-throughput, next-generation sequencing techniques, patients can be categorized based on persisting mutations, informing decisions about therapies and treatments.
