- Immunotherapy is one of the newest treatment options against cancer.
- Currently, not all people and all cancers can be treated by immunotherapy.
- Researchers from Johns Hopkins have identified a specific subset of cancer tumor mutations that hint at how receptive a tumor will be to immunotherapy.
Every year, scientists develop new treatment options to fight cancer. One of the newest options is
However, immunotherapy does not work for every person or every type of cancer. Researchers continue to look for answers as to what might cause immunotherapy to
Now, researchers from Johns Hopkins University in Maryland say they have found a specific subset of mutations in a cancer tumor that hints at how receptive it will be to immunotherapy.
Researchers believe their findings will help doctors more accurately select people for immunotherapy as well as better predict outcomes from the treatment.
Their
Immunotherapy is a
Usually, cancer cells develop mutations. These mutations allow the cancer cells to stay hidden from the body’s immune system.
Immunotherapy provides a boost to the body’s immune system, making it easier for it to find and destroy cancer cells.
There are a few different types of immunotherapy, including:
Immunotherapy is currently a treatment option for breast cancer, melanoma, leukemia, and non-small cell lung cancer.
Researchers are currently looking at using immunotherapy as a treatment for other types of cancer, including prostate cancer, brain cancer, and ovarian cancer.
According to the study’s researchers, doctors currently use the total number of mutations in a tumor — called the
“Tumor mutation burden is the number of changes in the genetic material and particularly in the DNA sequence…
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