Researchers used genomic profiling to identify a biomarker that can determine whether immunotherapy or chemotherapy is the better option for a colorectal cancer patient, according to a study published in Annals of Oncology on April 30.
Previously, microsatellite instability was the predominant biomarker used to determine a treatment plan for patients with metastatic colorectal cancer. Scientists at City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, Calif., and Cambridge, Mass.-based genomic testing company Foundation Medicine, however, discovered that MSI can predict a patient's suitability for immunotherapy even more accurately when tumor mutational burden is also taken into account.
The researchers studied the tumor characteristics, tumor genomics and outcome data of 22 colorectal cancer patients, all of whom had high MSI and had previously been treated with immunotherapy. They found that patients with both high MSI and a high tumor mutation score responded significantly better to immunotherapy treatments, with the majority continuing to experience major tumor shrinkage for more than 18 months.
"Finding methods to identify the right, personalized treatment for a patient is top-of-mind, especially in today's precision medicine landscape," Marwan Fakih, MD, senior author of the study and co-director of City of Hope's gastrointestinal cancer program, said in a statement. "Taking this kind of personalized medicine approach, we will be able to provide patients with options that yield better outcomes and are more cost-effective."
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