scholarly journals Integrating Circulating Biomarkers in the Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Treatment in Lung Cancer

Cancers ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 3625
Author(s):  
Boris Duchemann ◽  
Jordi Remon ◽  
Marie Naigeon ◽  
Laura Mezquita ◽  
Roberto Ferrara ◽  
...  

Immune checkpoint inhibitors are now a cornerstone of treatment for non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Tissue-based assays, such as Programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-L1) expression or mismatch repair deficiency/microsatellite instability (MMRD/MSI) status, are approved as treatment drivers in various settings, and represent the main field of research in biomarkers for immunotherapy. Nonetheless, responses have been observed in patients with negative PD-L1 or low tumor mutational burden. Some aspects of biomarker use remain poorly understood and sub-optimal, in particular tumoral heterogeneity, time-evolving sampling, and the ability to detect patients who are unlikely to respond. Moreover, tumor biopsies offer little insight into the host’s immune status. Circulating biomarkers offer an alternative non-invasive solution to address these pitfalls. Here, we summarize current knowledge on circulating biomarkers while using liquid biopsies in patients with lung cancer who receive treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors, in terms of their potential as being predictive of outcome as well as their role in monitoring ongoing treatment. We address host biomarkers, notably circulating immune cells and soluble systemic immune and inflammatory markers, and also review tumor markers, including blood-based tumor mutational burden, circulating tumor cells, and circulating tumor DNA. Technical requirements are discussed along with the current limitations that are associated with these promising biomarkers.

Cancers ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 201 ◽  
Author(s):  
Courèche Kaderbhaï ◽  
Zoé Tharin ◽  
François Ghiringhelli

Immune checkpoint inhibitors radically changed the treatment of patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). However, only one-quarter of patients benefit from these new therapies when used as monotherapy. The assessment of Program Death Ligand-1 (PD-L1) tumor expression by immunohistochemistry is used to select potential responder patients, but this not an optimal marker since it does not predict the absence of anti PD-1 efficacy. Despite this shortcoming, PD-L1 remains the gold standard biomarker in many studies and the only biomarker available for clinicians. In addition to histological markers, transcriptomic and exome analyses have revealed potential biomarkers requiring further confirmation. Recently, tumor mutational burden has emerged as a good surrogate marker of outcome. In this review we will detail current knowledge on DNA and RNA related biomarkers.


2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e14266-e14266 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sacha Rothschild ◽  
Ilaria Alborelli ◽  
Katharina Leonards ◽  
Laura P Leuenberger ◽  
Spasenija Savic Prince ◽  
...  

e14266 Background: In non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) significantly improve overall survival (OS). Tumor mutational burden (TMB) has emerged as a predictive biomarker for patients treated with ICIs. Here we evaluated the predictive power of TMB measured through / by the Oncomine Tumor Mutational Load (TML - Thermo Fisher Scientific) targeted sequencing assay in 71 NSCLC patients treated with ICIs. Methods: TMB was assessed retrospectively in 71 metastatic NSCLC patients receiving ICI therapy. Clinical data (RECIST 1.1) were collected and patients were characterized as either having durable clinical benefit (DCB) or no durable benefit (NDB). Additionally, genetic alterations and PD-L1 expression were assessed and compared with TMB and response rate. Results: TMB was significantly higher in patients with DCB compared to patients with NDB (median TMB = 9.2 versus 5.3 mutations/Mb, Mann-Whitney p = 0.014). 70% of patients with high TMB (cutoff = 3rd tertile, TMB ≥ 9.2) were responders (DCB) compared to 29% of patients with low TMB (cutoff = 1st tertile, TMB ≤ 4.5). TMB-high patients showed significantly longer progression-free survival (PFS) and OS (log rank test, p = .0030 for PFS and 0 .0375 for OS, respectively). Combining PD-L1 expression and TMB value increased the predictive power of TMB. Conclusions: Our results show that the TML panel is an effective tool to stratify patients for ICI treatment. We believe that a combination of biomarkers will maximize the precision of patient selection.


2019 ◽  
Vol 250 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ilaria Alborelli ◽  
Katharina Leonards ◽  
Sacha I Rothschild ◽  
Laura P Leuenberger ◽  
Spasenija Savic Prince ◽  
...  

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