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Review
. 2020 Sep;12(9):5119-5127.
doi: 10.21037/jtd.2020.04.15.

Biomarkers in immunotherapy: literature review and future directions

Rebecca Pharaon  1 , Maria A Koczywas  2 , Sabrina Salgia  1 , Atish Mohanty  1 , Erminia Massarelli  1
Affiliations
Review

Biomarkers in immunotherapy: literature review and future directions

Rebecca Pharaon et al. J Thorac Dis. 2020 Sep.

Abstract

Within the past decade, immunotherapy has revolutionized the treatment of advanced non-small lung cancer (NSCLC). Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) such as pembrolizumab, nivolumab, atezolizumab, and durvalumab have shown superiority over chemotherapy regimens in patients with programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression. Several predictive molecular biomarkers, including PD-L1 expression and high tumor mutation burden, have shown utility in discovering lung cancer patient groups that would benefit from ICIs. However, there remains to be a reliable imaging biomarker that would clearly select patients, through baseline or restaging imaging, who would respond or have a prolonged response to ICIs. The purpose of this review is to highlight the role of ICIs in patients with advanced NSCLC and past or current studies in potential biomarkers as well as future directions on the role of imaging in immunotherapy.

Keywords: Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC); imaging biomarkers; immunotherapy; in vivo imaging; molecular biomarkers.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest: All authors have completed the ICMJE uniform disclosure form (available at http://dx.doi.org/10.21037/jtd.2020.04.15). The series “Role of Precision Imaging in Thoracic Disease” was commissioned by the editorial office without any funding or sponsorship. EM has received honoraria from Astra Zeneca Pharmaceuticals, Merck & Co, and received research support from Pfizer, Astra Zeneca, Merck, BMS, GSK, and Tessa Pharmaceuticals. The other authors have no other conflicts of interest to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Anti-PD-1, anti-PD-L1, and anti-CTLA-4 monoclonal antibodies targets and mechanisms.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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