The researchers will not only explore tissue and circulating biomarkers but also the role of the microbiome in predicting benefit from immune checkpoint inhibitors.
H3, a subsidiary of Japanese drugmaker Eisai, is developing personalized cancer treatments targeting genomic alterations, including aberrant RNA splicing.
During the meeting, researchers presented studies on combination immunotherapies and the efficacy of giving molecularly-informed treatments earlier in the disease continuum.
The trial will test two Bristol-Myers Squibb cancer drugs in patients with metastatic or unresectable tumors harboring mutations in the genes POLE and POLD1.
The projects, organized by Friends of Cancer Research in the US and the Quality Assurance Initiative Pathology (QuIP) in Germany, are comparing different TMB assays.
Presentations largely reflected negatively on the utility of PD-L1 for stratifying response, but pivotal new data on tumor mutational burden as assessed by Foundation Medicine's genomic sequencing panel.
The companies plan to develop a broad NGS panel to analyze all known biomarkers for cancer drugs, including tumor mutation burden and microsatellite instability.
With multiple independent biomarkers, and potential combinations that may require even more subtyping, diagnostics to guide immunotherapy appears to be getting more complicated.
The University of Zurich's Ruedi Aebersold and his colleagues analyzed a dozen HeLa cell lines to find differences in gene expression, protein levels, and more.
