Two studies led by The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center that shed new light on the potential of the gut microbiome as a targetable biomarker to improve responses to immunotherapy were presented today at the 2022 American Society for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting.
The findings include the first report of
gut microbiomeassociations with immunotherapy response in newly diagnosed glioblastoma patients and a study that identified a link between gut microbiome signatures, immune cells in the tumor microenvironment and immune checkpoint blockade response in melanoma, non-small cell lung
cancer (NSCLC) and sarcoma.
Gut microbiome signatures associated with immunotherapy response in glioblastoma (Abstract 2006).
Immunotherapy has had limited success so far against glioblastoma, the most common and aggressive form of brain cancer. A new study demonstrated that distinct gut microbiome signatures were present in patients with longer versus shorter survival following treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors.
A Phase I/II clinical trial (NCT 03174197) investigating atezolizumab (anti-PD-L1) in combination with temozolomide and radiation therapy in newly diagnosed glioblastoma patients previously reported modest activity, with a median overall survival (OS) of 18 months and median progression-free survival of 10.6 months. The trial was designed with correlative studies to better understand the mechanisms underlying resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy, including stool collection to analyze the gut microbiome, a novel approach for glioblastoma.
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