Dr. Wistuba on Biomarkers for Immunotherapy in Lung Cancer

Ignacio I. Wistuba, MD, chair, Department of Translational Molecular Pathology, Division of Hematology/Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, discusses the current landscape of biomarkers for immunotherapy in lung cancer.

PD-L1 expression and tumor mutation burden (TMB) are the two prominent biomarkers, but there’s still much room for improvement to advance these even further, says Wistuba. The most important aspect of modifying these imperfections is a set of universal guidelines for utilizing these biomarkers. Evaluating PD-L1 as a biomarker has become effective, but only after a few years of research and discussion. The same thing is happening now with TMB, Wistuba says.

There are still ongoing clinical trials to determine a clear genotyping platform in TMB that will result in the proper treatment. For the future, Wistuba adds, a deeper understanding of tumor profiling is necessary to develop new biomarkers.