Best Practices and Research Advances in Thoracic Oncology: A Regional Series LATAM Course 2: Immunotherapy in Lung Cancer-Biomarkers for Immunotherapy

Video Transcription

Video Summary

Luis Reyes, Chief Scientific Officer at Memorial Cancer Institute, discusses the challenges and advancements in utilizing biomarkers for immunotherapy in oncology. Current practices largely rely on PD-L1 expression, but this marker is not always reliable due to variability based on tumor location, treatment conditions, and timing. While PD-L1 guides some treatment decisions, its limitations have spurred the exploration of other biomarkers like tumor mutation burden (TMB) and circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA). Innovations, such as the PROPHET test and artificial intelligence, aim to better predict patient responses to immunotherapy. Testing methods and external factors like the microbiome are also being assessed for their impact on immunotherapy effectiveness. Identifying negative prognostic markers (e.g., STK-11, P53) and employing technologies like whole-exome sequencing may improve personalized treatment strategies. Ultimately, a better understanding of biomarkers could prevent unnecessary treatments and improve patient outcomes in cancer therapy.

Asset Subtitle

Luis Raez, MD

Keywords

biomarkers

immunotherapy

oncology

tumor mutation burden

artificial intelligence

personalized treatment