Abstract

Circulating Tumor DNA as a Molecular Blood-borne Biomarker to Predict Tumor Response In Lung Cancer Patients Treated with Immunotherapy

Ed Schuuring, Professor in Molecular Oncological Pathology, University Medical Center Groningen

A significant minority of patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors shows durable responses but no adequate biomarkers are available for predicting which patients will benefit.  Immunotherapy is expensive and potentially toxic. Tumor response is monitored by tumor volume using CT scanning. The aim of our study is to assess plasma levels of non-targetable tumor-specific mutations as molecular biomarkers and monitoring tool for durable responses to immunotherapy in advanced NSCLC.