Elucidate Tumor-Immune Interactions from a Single Sample
In the immuno-oncology era, it’s becoming clear that understanding and improving response to cancer immunotherapies and developing new compounds relies on the examination of the interactions between tumor cells and immune cells in the TME. Historically, gaining molecular insights into both the tumor and the immune system has necessitated the analysis of data derived from multiple sources, packaged in various formats. When samples are precious and limited, researchers need a way to both simplify this process and to maximize the data generated from each individual sample. This is where ImmunoID NeXT can help.
Figure 1: ImmunoID NeXT consolidates multiple biomarker assays into one; simultaneously solving many logistical and technical problems for clinical trial sponsors.
Broad Exploration of Modern Oncology Biomarkers
ImmunoID NeXT facilitates the identification of known and novel biomarkers that are predictive of resistance, response, and adverse event (AE) risk associated with modern oncology therapies. Click the appropriate biomarker category below to explore how ImmunoID NeXT can help you to evaluate relevant biomarkers of interest for each.
Despite the success of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors (ICIs), the majority of initial non-responders tend to
progress at a natural rate, and a significant proportion of initial responders eventually relapse. Thus, understanding the underlying biological mechanisms of primary and acquired resistance to immunotherapy has become a major focus of the field. ImmunoID NeXT provides insight into the following known tumor escape mechanisms, while also aiding in the identification of previously-undefined ones:
Mechanisms of Resistance | |
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Category | ImmunoID NeXT Solutions |
Human Leukocyte Antigen |
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Antigen Processing Machinery (Somatic mutations and gene expression) |
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Immune Checkpoint Modulation (Somatic mutations and gene expression) |
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Canonical Pathways (Somatic mutations and gene expression) |
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Tumor Aneuploidy |
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Cytokines/Chemokines (Somatic mutations and gene expression) |
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Tumor Surface Antigen Modulation |
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While understanding the reasons why certain patients are resistant to oncology therapies is important, it is even more critical to ensure that they are administered only to patients who are expected to respond. Therefore, the identification and use molecular markers that are predictive of response is imperative in bringing the curative potential of immuno-oncology drugs to more patients.
Predictive Biomarkers of Response | |
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Category | ImmunoID NeXT Solutions |
Neoantigen Load/Tumor Mutational Burden (TMB) |
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Microsatellite Instability (MSI) Status |
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Immune Repertoire |
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Gene Expression Signatures |
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Cancer-related Mutations (SNVs, indels, fusions, and CNAs) |
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For certain types of immunotherapies, the incidence of adverse events (AEs) such as cytokine release syndrome (CRS) and other immune-related AEs (irAEs) has served to temper excitement related to otherwise promising clinical outcomes. This has prompted the exploration of biomarkers that can be used to predict AE risk both before and during treatment.
Predictive Biomarkers of AE Risk | |
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Category | ImmunoID NeXT Solutions |
Cytokine expression signatures |
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Germline genetic variations |
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Signature(s) identification |
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The use of single-analyte biomarkers (e.g. PD-L1 expression) has yielded modest results in the quest to accurately predict which patients are likely to respond (or not) to immunotherapies and their combinations with other treatment modalities. In the immunotherapy age, it’s clear that more effective patient stratification techniques will require the integration of multiple biomarkers that not only molecularly profile a given patient’s tumor, but that also reveal how the host’s immune system is reacting to – and interacting with – that tumor.
At Personalis, we believe that such an approach will deliver the benefits of the immuno-oncology revolution to a greater proportion of patients. With the comprehensive tumor- and immune-related biomarker information that’s generated by the NeXT Platform, combined with our advanced, customizable, and integrative analytic capabilities, we can help our biopharmaceutical partners identify composite biomarkers to improve upon the predictive power of single-analyte approaches, and ultimately bring the benefits of immunotherapy to more cancer patients.