How are biomarkers used for diagnostic screening in immunotherapy?

FAQs Research
Effective immunotherapies require the use of biomarkers for diagnostic screening. This includes neoantigen expression, gene signatures and expression profiles, chemokine ratios, cell counts, and immune scores. There are several immune-related biomarkers which can be used to predict clinical outcomes and include the mutational load for CTLA-4 and PD-1 blockage therapy, CD3 T-cell counts, CD8/FOXP3 ratio for tumor necrosis, CD4+ICOS+ T cells, and broad antibody signature in protein microarray-based seromics.1,2

References:
1. S. Gnjatic et al, "Identifying Baseline Immune-Related Biomarkers to Predict Clinical Outcome of Immunotherapy," J Immunother Cancer, 5 (44): 1-18, 2017.
2. K. W. Mouw et al, "DNA Damage and Repair Biomarkers of Immunotherapy Response," Canc Disc 7(7): 675-693, 2017.