We have discussed mutational burden previously on this blog – in essence, the concept is that tumors with more mutations are more visible to the immune system because the generation of new novel antigenic epitopes allows for adaptive immune responses even when previous adaptive antigen-specific immune responses have been blunted by PD-1 expression. Continue reading
Tag Archives: mismatch-repair
Using a blood test to select patients most likely to respond to checkpoint therapy
Checkpoint therapy with PD-(L)1 and CTLA4-directed monoclonal antibodies has shown to be extremely effective for many patients with a variety of tumors. PD-1 testing, alone, however, are lacking in selecting patients for therapy – up to 17% of patients who do not meet criteria for PD-1 positivity respond to treatment, and many patients with PD-1 tumors do not respond well to checkpoint therapy. Continue reading
New data with temozolomide plus radiation for brain cancers
The results of two studies have demonstrated that the use of temozolomide (TMZ) plus radiation increases disease-free and overall survival in patients with glioblastoma and a low grade glioma called anaplastic glioma. Continue reading
Neo-antigens for Cancer Immunotherapy
Two new companies have received substantial funding to pursue neo-antigens for cancer immunotherapy: Gritstone Oncology raised $102MM to pursue lung cancer and Neon Therapeutics raised $55MM to develop neoantigen-based therapeutic vaccines and T cell therapies to treat cancer. Continue reading