Distinct immune "signatures" in patients who develop adverse events while taking immunotherapy for cancer may help oncologists identify patients at risk and treat them early to prevent serious side effects, suggests a study by researchers from the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and its Bloomberg~Kimmel Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. The study, published Oct. 15 in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, is the largest to date to look at immune signatures in patients with a range of cancers.
It included a diverse sample of 111 patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors -; substances that reactivate the body's natural anti-cancer immunity. About 40% of patients developed immune-related adverse events, as expected. However, the patients who developed these side effects were more likely to have received a combination of immune checkpoint inhibitors and to have a history of autoimmune disease .
Researchers also discovered a distinct immune "signature" in patients who later developed adverse events. Increases in white blood cells known as T-cell helper 2 (Th2) and T-cell helper 17 (Th17), and their respective cytokines, predate the development of immune-related adverse events and are potential targets for treating immune-related adverse events." Mark Yarchoan, M.
D., study's senior author and associate professor of oncology at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center The study's co-senior author was Won Jin Ho, M.D.
, director of the Mass Cytometry Facility and associat.