Watch the immune system's response in the blood three weeks in
When immunotherapy works, specific immune cell families multiply in the blood within weeks. Tracking that could tell patients early whether to continue.
Peripheral T-cell receptor repertoire dynamics — clonal expansion, clonal replacement and the appearance of tumour-matched clones — have been associated with response in melanoma, lung and bladder cancer, but the analyses are retrospective, use different metrics and different platforms, and have never been locked as a prospective decision rule. Sequencing cost is now low enough for serial monitoring.
- No one can predict who responds to immunotherapy · Checkpoint drugs cure some patients and do nothing for most. We still cannot tell the two apart before treating.
- Biomarkers are not validated or standardised · Tests that decide who gets a drug are often not validated prospectively and are measured differently in every lab.
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not linked directly; found by shared links- IdeaUse a hypoxia scan to pick patients for adenosine-pathway drugs
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