Immunotherapy Predictions: Scientists Discover Strategies to Forecast Treatment Results
Each year, scientists tirelessly contribute to the development of novel treatments against a relentless foe - cancer. Among these newest options is immunotherapy, a treatment that harnesses the power of your own immune system to combat this disease. However, it's not a magic bullet for every case; immunotherapy doesn't work for all people or all types of cancer.
Now, researchers from Johns Hopkins University have delved deeper into this conundrum, pinpointing a specific subset of mutations in cancer tumors that could help predict the tumor's susceptibility to immunotherapy.
According to these findings, doctors currently assess the total number of mutations in a tumor, known as the tumor mutation burden (TMB), to determine the tumor's potential response to immunotherapy. However, the Johns Hopkins researchers identified a specific subset of mutations within this TMB – which they termed "persistent mutations" – that remain unchanged as the cancer evolves.
This persistent subset of mutations enables the cancer tumor to stay visible to the immune system, making it more responsive to immunotherapy. As more persistent mutations in the tumor are identified, doctors may be better equipped to select patients for immunotherapy and predict the treatment's outcome.
Dr. Valsamo Anagnostou, a senior author of the study and an associate professor of oncology at Johns Hopkins, described these findings as a significant step forward in the field of cancer immunotherapy. The research team's findings are published in the journal Nature Medicine.
Immunotherapy works by enhancing your immune system's ability to recognize and destroy cancer cells, a task that is usually made difficult by the cancer cells' mutations. These mutations allow cancer cells to hide from the immune system. In effect, immunotherapy provides a much-needed boost to your immune system, making it easier for it to locate and eliminate cancer cells.
There are several types of immunotherapy currently in use, including checkpoint inhibitors, cancer vaccines, and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs). Immunotherapy is currently used to treat breast cancer, melanoma, leukemia, and non-small cell lung cancer, with further research being conducted for other types of cancer, such as prostate, brain, and ovarian cancer.
As the field of cancer immunotherapy continues to evolve, so too will the strategies for selecting patients for this life-saving treatment. It's possible that, in the near future, high-throughput, next-generation sequencing techniques will become routine in determining a patient's likelihood of responding to immunotherapy or benefiting from other treatments. Ultimately, scientists hope that these insights will lead to personalized, effective cancer treatments for every patient.
- The research by scientists from Johns Hopkins University has uncovered a specific group of mutations in cancer tumors, known as "persistent mutations," which could aid in determining a tumor's susceptibility to immunotherapy.
- Doctors may be better equipped to select patients for immunotherapy and predict its outcome as they focus on identifying more persistent mutations in the tumor, as these persistent mutations make the cancer tumor more responsive to immunotherapy.
- As the field of cancer immunotherapy continues to progress, high-throughput, next-generation sequencing techniques could become standard in determining a patient's likelihood of responding to immunotherapy or benefiting from other treatments, bringing us closer to personalized, effective cancer treatments for every patient.
