Autoantibodies in the blood could predict the risk of side effects of melanoma immunotherapy
A multicenter study led by researchers from the Heidelberg Medical Faculty, the Dermato-Oncology Section of the Dermatology Clinic at Heidelberg University Hospital and the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) Heidelberg shows that detectable autoantibodies in the blood could better assess the individual risk of severe side effects in patients with metastatic melanoma even before immunotherapy begins.
Immunotherapies have significantly improved the treatment of advanced melanoma skin cancer in recent years by activating the immune system to specifically fight tumor cells. However, immune-related side effects often occur, including inflammation of the intestines, skin or other organs, some of which are severe.
The study looked at blood samples from 331 patients with metastatic melanoma who received different immunotherapies. This showed that certain autoantibodies were already present before the start of therapy and correlated with the later occurrence of side effects. The composition and amount of these autoantibodies varied depending on the type of immunotherapy – such as monotherapy or combination therapy. This indicates different biological mechanisms of the development of side effects.
A special focus was on intestinal inflammation, which occurs much more frequently and more distressingly with combination immunotherapies. The research team identified autoantibody profiles that reliably reflected the risk of these complications across different forms of treatment. Some antibodies were associated with increased risk, others showed more protective effects.
The results suggest that an autoantibody profile from a simple blood sample could help in the future to estimate the personal risk of side effects before starting therapy and to make the therapy decision more individually – for example, whether a riskier combination therapy is justifiable. Such a test would be scalable and, in principle, widely applicable. However, before routine use, the findings must be validated in further studies.
The study was led by Prof. Jessica Hassel, Head of the Dermato-Oncology Section at the UKHD and NCT Heidelberg. Dr. Robin Reschke, Max Eder Junior Research Group Leader at the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg, also announced a planned follow-up study to investigate the relationship between autoantibody profiles and the response of immunotherapy to the tumor.
The NCT Heidelberg is a cooperation institution of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), the Heidelberg University Hospital, the Heidelberg Medical Faculty and the Thorax Clinic Heidelberg.
Original paper:
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