Dr. Bunn on TMB as a Biomarker in Small Cell Lung Cancer

Video

Paul A. Bunn Jr, MD, distinguished professor, Division of Medical Oncology, James Dudley Chair in Lung Cancer Research, University of Colorado Denver, 2014 Giant of Cancer Care in Lung Cancer, discusses tumor mutational burden as a biomarker in small cell lung cancer.

Paul A. Bunn Jr, MD, distinguished professor, Division of Medical Oncology, James Dudley Chair in Lung Cancer Research, University of Colorado Denver, 2014 Giant of Cancer Care® in Lung Cancer, discusses tumor mutational burden (TMB) as a biomarker in small cell lung cancer (SCLC).

Patients with SCLC typically have low PD-L1 expression, so using that as a biomarker won’t be very effective. Since SCLC is a diagnosis specific to smokers, these patients usually have high TMB. There is some evidence that TMB is a good biomarker, particularly with the addition of CTLA-4 inhibitors.

Bunn mentions a study of single-agent pembrolizumab (Keytruda), which demonstrated a 30% response rate in patients. The impressive thing about the responses was the durability—patients lived up to 2 years on pembrolizumab, which is much longer than chemotherapy.

Related Videos
Christian Marth, MD, PhD, head, professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Innsbruck Medical University
Mansoor Raza Mirza, MD, chief oncologist, Department of Oncology, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital
Judy Hayek, MD, gynecologic oncology fellow, State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate College of Medicine
Leslie M. Randall, MD, MAS, professor, division head, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology – Gynecologic Oncology, Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine Obstetrics and Gynecology
Dimitrios Nasioudis, MD, fellow, Gynecologic Oncology, Perelman School of Medicine, the University of Pennsylvania
Sara Corvigno, MD, PhD, translational researcher, oncology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center
I-Chia (Daniel) Liu, MD
Robert W. Mutter, MD
Saad J. Kenderian, MB, CHB, consultant, Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, Department of Immunology, Department of Molecular Medicine, assistant professor, oncology, immunology, medicine, Mayo Clinic
Mary-Ellen Taplin, MD