Precision Medicine in Oncology®

The expression of PD-L1 has been at the forefront of biomarker development for PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors, but there is much uncertainty surrounding its use and other biomarkers are needed.

Sarah B. Goldberg, MD, MPH, assistant professor of Medicine, Yale Cancer Center, discusses the use of PD-L1 as a biomarker in treating patients with lung cancer.

Recent research suggests that the presence of PD-L1–positive and CD8+ cells may be useful for predicting responses in patients with non-small cell lung cancer who have been treated with durvalumab.

Individualizing frontline therapy for patients with non–small cell lung cancer based on preferences and clinical experience, as well as efficacy and safety data from pivotal trials, is an appropriate method for selecting EGFR-targeted agents.

Graham Mann, MBBS, PhD, FRACP, professor of Medicine, Westmead Clinical School and co-director of the Centre for Cancer Research, The Westmead Institute for Medical Research at the University of Sydney in Australia, discusses his findings from the Australian Melanoma Genome Project, which were presented at the 2016 Society for Melanoma Research (SMR) Congress.

Immunotherapy has been a game changer in oncology, improving survival and providing long, durable responses in melanoma, lung, head and neck cancer, and others.

Before undergoing surgery, radiation therapy, or a systemic treatment, Clayton S. Lau, MD, advises that the active surveillance approach for some patients with early prostate cancer is likely a more effective approach—but they should be better educated on it.

Yvonne Saenger, MD, director of Melanoma Immunotherapy at Columbia University Medical Center, discusses the importance of developing accurate biomarkers when it comes to administering immunotherapy.

Given the poor prognoses often seen in patients with anaplastic thyroid cancer, researchers are seeking novel therapies that may hold more promise than surgery or radiation.

David L. Rimm, MD, PhD, professor of pathology and of medicine, director of pathology tissue services, director of translational pathology, Yale Cancer Center, discusses various options for biomarker testing in lung cancer.