Biomarker Predicts Resistance to Immunotherapies in Melanoma
Source: Technology Networks Diagnostics, November 2022
Duke Cancer Institute researchers have identified potential biomarkers that predict the likelihood for checkpoint inhibitor drugs to backfire, driving hyper-progression of melanoma cells instead of unleashing the immune system to fight them.
Prior studies have shown that cancer patients who develop hyper-progression while on checkpoint inhibitors have a median overall survival of 4.6 months compared to 7.6 months in patients without the complication. The phenomenon has been shown to occur in multiple tumor types, not only melanoma, but also head and neck, lung and breast cancers.
The new study in mice and human tissue points to a strategy for inhibiting hyper-progression, potentially benefitting an estimated 10% of cancer patients who undergo this devastating complication from checkpoint inhibitor immunotherapies.