Peripheral Blood T-Cell Dynamic Biomarkers to Identify Responders and Nonresponders in Immune Checkpoint-Based Therapy for Lung Cancer
Abstract
Metastasis, the spread of cancer cells to distant parts of the body, is the most common cause of death in patients with cancers such as lung cancer. Remarkable progress made in the field of immune oncology over the past decade has provided tremendous hope to patients with advanced and metastatic lung cancer. Immune checkpoint inhibitors that unleash the patient’s T lymphocytes to attack cancer can cause durable, long-lasting responses in a significant number of lung cancer patients. One major limitation of this approach is the lack of effective biomarkers such as a protein or molecule that watches to determine whether patients will respond to checkpoint inhibitors. The goal of this project is to investigate whether a specific protein, a chemokine receptor, on the outside of patients’ immune fighting cells, lymphocytes, which can be found in the blood, can be used to predict and monitor a patient’s response during treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors. A major potential advantage of this method is that we might be able to tell whether the treatment is successful or causes side-effects by a simple blood draw that is less invasive, easier to perform, and can be repeated at several time points during treatments. Results from this research are expected to help lung cancer patients by providing the foundation for developing significantly improved monitoring during immunotherapy for patients with advanced lung cancer and for future personalized cancer treatment to improve survival.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jul 16, 2019
- Source ID
- W81XWH1910454
Entities
People
- Fumito Ito
Organizations
- United States Army