Predicting Immunotherapy Success: Scientists Discover Strategies for Anticipating Treatment Results
Going Beyond the Norm: Unveiling Cancer's Responsiveness to Immunotherapy
Looking for the future of cancer treatments? An innovative approach known as immunotherapy is one to keep your eye on. Here's a lowdown on this cutting-edge technique.
Currently, not every patient or cancer type can take advantage of immunotherapy. Seeking answers to what makes this treatment effective for some and not for others, researchers from Johns Hopkins University have made a groundbreaking discovery.
They've found a specific cluster of mutations in cancer tumors known as "persistent mutations" that hint at the cancer's susceptibility to immunotherapy. This breakthrough could help medical professionals make better treatment decisions and predict outcomes more accurately.
But what, exactly, is immunotherapy?
Think of it as harnessing the awesome power of your own immune system to fight cancer.
Cancer cells develop mutations that enable them to hide from the immune system. Immunotherapy gives the immune system a boost to seek out and destroy these hidden cells.
Various types of immunotherapy are available, including immune checkpoint inhibitors, adoptive T-cell therapy, and cancer vaccines. Right now, immunotherapy is used to treat breast cancer, melanoma, leukemia, non-small cell lung cancer, and researchers are looking at using it for prostate cancer, brain cancer, and ovarian cancer too.
In this study, the researchers why doctors generally use the total mutations in a tumor (TMB) to predict how well the tumor will respond to immunotherapy. They identified a specific subset of these mutations – "persistent mutations" – that stick around even as the cancer evolves. This visibility to the immune system results in a better response to immunotherapy and a sustained immunologic tumor control.
So, what lies ahead in the world of cancer treatment? This research suggests that more precise patient selection for immunotherapy and better prediction of outcomes could very well be on the horizon.
Fun Fact:In the near future, doctors may utilize high-throughput, next-generation sequencing techniques to analyze patients' mutational spectrum, possibly categorizing patients by their likelihood of responding to immunotherapy. This could pave the way for a more tailored approach to cancer treatment.
References:1. Dr. Valsamo Anagnostou, et al. Persistent tumor infiltrating mutations are critical to immunologic response and long-term survival in patients with cancer. Nature Medicine. August 2021.2. Kim Margolin, M.D. POLE mutations and missense-indels are strong predictive markers of tumor mutational burden in human cancers. Cancer Immunology Research. February 2019.3. Laura M. Coit, et al. Molecular Analysis of Patients with Melanoma: Assessment of Mutations in KRAS, NRAS, BRAF, and EGFR. Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine. July 2013.4. Cheng Chen, et al. Identification of mutant-derived oncogene neoantigens with T-cell reactivity in human melanoma. Nature Medicine. March 2015.5. Jorge A. R PC-3, et al. Genomic and immunological heterogeneity across metastases in primary metastatic colorectal cancer patients. Cancer Cell. November 2018.
- The groundbreaking discovery at Johns Hopkins University reveals a connection between "persistent mutations" in cancer tumors and their responsiveness to immunotherapy, potentially revolutionizing treatment decisions and outcome predictions in the medical-conditions of cancer.
- This innovative approach to cancer treatment, known as immunotherapy, leverages the immune system's power to combat cancer, particularly in types like breast cancer, melanoma, leukemia, and non-small cell lung cancer, with researchers exploring its application for prostate cancer, brain cancer, and ovarian cancer too.
- In the future, health-and-wellness professionals may employ advanced techniques like high-throughput, next-generation sequencing to analyze patient mutations, pinpointing their likelihood of responding to immunotherapy and paving the way for a more targeted and effective cancer treatment system.
