Biomarker Algorithm May Predict Immunotherapy Outcomes Across Cancer Types

A new study has been published which validates the clinical utility of Immunotherapy Response Scores, a tool that can be used to predict which patients with cancer would benefit from single-agent treatment with an anti-PD-1 or anti-PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitor, according to a press release from the Stata Oncology, the create of the biomarker.

"Our Immunotherapy Response Score meets a significant unmet medical need for an integrative diagnostic test that better predicts likelihood of benefit from anti-PD-1/PD-L1 checkpoint inhibitor monotherapy, across solid tumor types," said Dr. Scott Tomlins, Strata Oncology co-founder and Chief Medical Officer, in the release. "Current pan-tumor biomarkers for these treatments identify only a fraction of responsive patients, meaning far too many people who could benefit from these therapies are not being identified."

The Immunotherapy Repones Score was developed using treatment data and genomic profiling of tumor tissue from the Strata trial, which is an ongoing trial evaluating the impact of molecular profiling for patient with advanced tumors. By combining the tumor burden with expression of PD-L1, PD-1, ADAM12 and TOP2A, the biomarker algorithm can determine biology of the tumor and the environment.

The press release noted three key findings from the study, which was published in the journal Communications Medicine:

• Immunotherapy Response Score predicted real-world progression-free survival (time during and after treatment when the patient lives without disease progression) and overall survival (time from diagnosis or treatment start when patients are alive) in anti-PD-1/PD-L1 monotherapy treated patients across tumor types.
• A high Immunotherapy Response Score predicted similar duration of benefit as tumor mutational burden (TMB)-high status across tumor types, but identified twice as many patients who may benefit from checkpoint inhibitor treatment as TMB.
• In patients with non-small cell lung cancer who were Immunotherapy Response Score -high, there was no significant benefit of combination therapy (Keytruda [pembrolizumab] + chemotherapy) compared to monotherapy (Keytruda)

"Immunotherapy has transformed cancer care and now with IRS we have the ability to predict benefit across tumor types," said Dan Rhodes, Strata Oncology co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, in the release. "We are excited to put this novel biomarker into the hands of physicians to help them ensure every patient gets their best possible therapy."

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