Predicting Immune Response: Scientists Discover Methods for Predicting Immunotherapy Results
In the fight against cancer, scientists are always innovating new treatment options. One of the latest developments is immunotherapy, a method that utilizes the body's immune system to combat the disease. However, immunotherapy doesn't work for everyone or every form of cancer. That's why researchers from Johns Hopkins University have been investigating specific tumor mutations that can indicate a tumor's responsiveness to immunotherapy.
By identifying a subset of persistent mutations within a tumor, the researchers believe they have found a way to help doctors more accurately select patients for immunotherapy and better predict the treatment's outcomes. These persistent mutations keep the cancer cells visible to the immune system, allowing for a better response to immunotherapy.
In an interview with Medical News Today, Dr. Valsamo Anagnostou, a senior author of the study and associate professor of oncology at Johns Hopkins, explained that persistent mutations render cancer cells "foreign" to the immune system, providing more opportunities for the immune system to identify and attack the tumor. This response is amplified with immunotherapy, ultimately leading to prolonged immunologic tumor control and long survival.
When asked about the implications for cancer patients, Dr. Kim Margolin, a medical oncologist, shared that it is likely that in the near future, high-throughput, next-generation sequencing techniques could be used to study patients' mutational spectrum, categorizing them by their likelihood of responding to immunotherapy.
In essence, the discovery of persistent mutations offers a unique opportunity for doctors to better tailor immunotherapy treatments to specific patients, potentially improving success rates and outcomes.
What is immunotherapy?
Immunotherapy is a treatment method that boosts the body's immune system to fight the disease. Normally, cancer cells develop mutations that allow them to evade the immune system. Immunotherapy aims to restore the immune system's ability to recognize and destroy the cancer cells.
There are several types of immunotherapy, including checkpoint inhibitors, cancer vaccines, CAR-T cell therapy, and immune checkpoint modulators.
Immunotherapy and cancer
Currently, immunotherapy is a treatment option for breast cancer, melanoma, leukemia, and non-small cell lung cancer. Researchers are investigating its potential use for other types of cancer, including prostate cancer, brain cancer, and ovarian cancer.
Persistent mutations and the future of cancer treatment
The discovery of persistent mutations has the potential to revolutionize the way cancer is treated. By understanding the specific mutations within a tumor, doctors can make more accurate predictions about how the tumor will respond to immunotherapy and which treatments will be most effective.
In an interview with Medical News Today, Dr. Margolin stated that the findings may push predictions from prognostic indicators to predictive factors, ultimately leading to more personalized cancer treatments.
Enrichment Data:- The specific subset of mutations most relevant to a tumor's receptiveness to immunotherapy includes those causing deficient mismatch repair (dMMR) and high microsatellite instability (MSI-H).- High tumor mutational burden (TMB-H) itself is a quantitative biomarker used to predict response to immunotherapy, but it is not universally applicable and should be used in specific contexts.- Johns Hopkins researchers, specifically Dr. Valsamo Anagnostou, contributed to the discovery of persistent mutations and their relevance to immunotherapy response.- Immunotherapy is currently a treatment option for breast cancer, melanoma, leukemia, and non-small cell lung cancer, while researchers are investigating its potential use for other types of cancer.- The discovery of persistent mutations has the potential to revolutionize the way cancer is treated, with doctors being able to make more accurate predictions about how a tumor will respond to immunotherapy and which treatments will be most effective.- Personalized cancer treatments based on a patient's specific mutational spectrum are likely to become more common in the near future.
Immunotherapy is a method used in medical-conditions like cancer, which bolsters the immune system to combat diseases. When cancer cells develop mutations, they often evade the immune system, but immunotherapy aims to restore the immune system's ability to recognize and destroy these cells.
The discovery of persistent mutations within a tumor can revolutionize cancer treatment by allowing doctors to more accurately select patients for immunotherapy and predict its outcomes. These mutations make cancer cells "foreign" to the immune system, enhancing the immune system's ability to attack the tumor, especially with immunotherapy.
Currently, immunotherapy is a treatment option for several types of cancer, such as breast cancer, melanoma, leukemia, and non-small cell lung cancer. The future of cancer treatment may involve using high-throughput, next-generation sequencing techniques to study patients' mutational spectrum, categorizing them by their likelihood of responding to immunotherapy.
This development could push predictions from prognostic indicators to predictive factors, ultimately leading to more personalized cancer treatments based on a patient's specific mutational spectrum, potentially improving success rates and outcomes.
