Impact of high tumor mutational burden in solid tumors and challenges for biomarker application

Use of immune checkpoint blockade has resulted in improved overall survival (OS) in patients with multiple solid cancers, including but not limited to, advanced melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, urothelial cancer and renal cell carcinoma [1 –4]. Not all patients experience benefit from immunotherapy (and may experience immunotherapy-associated toxicities needlessly), highlighting the need for better patient selection. Reports have suggested that programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) immunohistochemistry, T-cell infiltration levels, T-cell receptor clonality, gut microbiome composition [5], gene expression signatures and peripheral blood markers, including neutrophil/lymphocyte ratio [6], may be associated with clinical response to checkpoint inhibitor-based immunotherapy [7].
Source: Cancer Treatment Reviews - Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Tags: Hot Topic Source Type: research