Dr. Rimm on Biomarker Testing in Lung Cancer

David L. Rimm, MD, PhD, professor of pathology and of medicine, director of pathology tissue services, director of translational pathology, Yale Cancer Center, discusses various options for biomarker testing in lung cancer.

Genomics testing involves an examination of the mutational or neoantigen load, explains Rimm. While this assay does select patients with a high mutational load, Rimm feels that this method is insufficiently sensitive, such that it misses those patients who may not have a high mutational load, but would still benefit from therapy.

Rimm is more optimistic about another form of biomarker testing, which involves looking at the immune cell microenvironment. In this method, one can measure the distribution and properties of T-cells determined by coexpression of other markers.