PQ - 20 Given the recent successes in cancer immunotherapy, can biomarkers or signatures be identified that can serve as predictors or surrogates of therapeutic efficacy? Background: There is increasing excitement about the use of immunotherapies in the treatment of cancer. While biomarkers that predict therapeutic efficacy or that can be used to measure the progress of treatment are still missing for many cancer treatments, with other treatments there are large-scale efforts in progress to identify these markers. Because of the relatively recent success in immunotherapies, there is a clear need to jumpstart the search for such biomarkers for these treatment modalities. Feasibility: The sophistication of the immunology field may provide a particular advantage in the search for surrogates for therapeutic efficacy. The long and rich advances of this field have helped shape a deep appreciation of immune responses, and within this knowledge there may be clever approaches to identify useful markers. The search for predictors of therapeutic efficacy may also benefit from this information, but may also rely on advances in molecular profiling. Implications of success: Biomarkers for predicting therapeutic responses or for following treatment success would greatly advance the immunotherapy field, and as we struggle to find such markers in all areas, any success will serve as a useful model for others. |
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