In a separate presentation at the NCCN conference, John A. Thompson, MD, of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, noted that some progress has been made in the area of predicting response to immune checkpoint inhibitors in NSCLC patients. Namely, the value of tumor PD-L1 expression and tumor mutation burden for predicting outcomes was highlighted in a recent study by Rizvi et al., who concluded that “the incorporation of both TMB [tumor mutation burden] and PD-L1 expression into multivariable predictive models should result in greater predictive power.” .
“This is a first step in our evolution and our progress toward a better biomarker. I think when we add in other factors like gene expression, we may be able to develop an even more robust biomarker that will help us select appropriate patients for therapy,” he said.
Dr. Soyano and her colleagues noted, however, that these measures, as well as tumor infiltrating immune cells, which have also been shown to have predictive value, require special testing and/or processing.
Furthermore, the optimal cutoff with PD-L1 expression is debatable, they said.
CBC data is more readily available, and also appears to have predictive and prognostic value, they said, concluding that the findings warrant further investigation in a larger, prospective study.
The authors reported having no disclosures.
sworcester@frontlinemedcom.com
SOURCE: Soyano A et al. NCCN Poster 075.