Biomarkers for immunotherapy resistance in non-small cell lung cancer

Immunotherapy has revolutionised the treatment landscape of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), significantly improving survival outcomes and offering renewed hope to patients with advanced disease. However, the majority of patients experience limited long-term benefits from immune checkpoint inhibi...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Catriona Rother, Tom John, Annie Wong
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2024-12-01
Series:Frontiers in Oncology
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fonc.2024.1489977/full
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850250671452848128
author Catriona Rother
Tom John
Annie Wong
Annie Wong
author_facet Catriona Rother
Tom John
Annie Wong
Annie Wong
author_sort Catriona Rother
collection DOAJ
description Immunotherapy has revolutionised the treatment landscape of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), significantly improving survival outcomes and offering renewed hope to patients with advanced disease. However, the majority of patients experience limited long-term benefits from immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) due to the development of primary or acquired immunotherapy resistance. Accurate predictive biomarkers for immunotherapy resistance are essential for individualising treatment strategies, improving survival outcomes, and minimising potential treatment-related harm. This review discusses the mechanisms underlying resistance to immunotherapy, addressing both cancer cell-intrinsic and cancer cell-extrinsic resistance processes. We summarise the current utility and limitations of two clinically established biomarkers: programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression and tumour mutational burden (TMB). Following this, we present a comprehensive review of emerging immunotherapy biomarkers in NSCLC, including tumour neoantigens, epigenetic signatures, markers of the tumour microenvironment (TME), genomic alterations, host–microbiome composition, and circulating biomarkers. The potential clinical applications of these biomarkers, along with novel approaches to their biomarker identification and targeting, are discussed. Additionally, we explore current strategies to overcome immunotherapy resistance and propose incorporating predictive biomarkers into an adaptive clinical trial design, where specific immune signatures guide subsequent treatment selection.
format Article
id doaj-art-2cb50fa06a7b47708ec95bcd7e9fdfdf
institution OA Journals
issn 2234-943X
language English
publishDate 2024-12-01
publisher Frontiers Media S.A.
record_format Article
series Frontiers in Oncology
spelling doaj-art-2cb50fa06a7b47708ec95bcd7e9fdfdf2025-08-20T01:58:08ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Oncology2234-943X2024-12-011410.3389/fonc.2024.14899771489977Biomarkers for immunotherapy resistance in non-small cell lung cancerCatriona Rother0Tom John1Annie Wong2Annie Wong3Wellington Blood and Cancer Centre, Te Whatu Ora Capital, Wellington, New ZealandDepartment of Medical Oncology, Peter MacCallum, Cancer Centre, Melbourne, VIC, AustraliaWellington Blood and Cancer Centre, Te Whatu Ora Capital, Wellington, New ZealandDepartment of Medicine, University of Otago, Wellington, New ZealandImmunotherapy has revolutionised the treatment landscape of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), significantly improving survival outcomes and offering renewed hope to patients with advanced disease. However, the majority of patients experience limited long-term benefits from immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI) due to the development of primary or acquired immunotherapy resistance. Accurate predictive biomarkers for immunotherapy resistance are essential for individualising treatment strategies, improving survival outcomes, and minimising potential treatment-related harm. This review discusses the mechanisms underlying resistance to immunotherapy, addressing both cancer cell-intrinsic and cancer cell-extrinsic resistance processes. We summarise the current utility and limitations of two clinically established biomarkers: programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) expression and tumour mutational burden (TMB). Following this, we present a comprehensive review of emerging immunotherapy biomarkers in NSCLC, including tumour neoantigens, epigenetic signatures, markers of the tumour microenvironment (TME), genomic alterations, host–microbiome composition, and circulating biomarkers. The potential clinical applications of these biomarkers, along with novel approaches to their biomarker identification and targeting, are discussed. Additionally, we explore current strategies to overcome immunotherapy resistance and propose incorporating predictive biomarkers into an adaptive clinical trial design, where specific immune signatures guide subsequent treatment selection.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fonc.2024.1489977/fullnon-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)immunotherapy resistanceprecision oncology strategiesbiomarkerscirculating biomarkers
spellingShingle Catriona Rother
Tom John
Annie Wong
Annie Wong
Biomarkers for immunotherapy resistance in non-small cell lung cancer
Frontiers in Oncology
non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
immunotherapy resistance
precision oncology strategies
biomarkers
circulating biomarkers
title Biomarkers for immunotherapy resistance in non-small cell lung cancer
title_full Biomarkers for immunotherapy resistance in non-small cell lung cancer
title_fullStr Biomarkers for immunotherapy resistance in non-small cell lung cancer
title_full_unstemmed Biomarkers for immunotherapy resistance in non-small cell lung cancer
title_short Biomarkers for immunotherapy resistance in non-small cell lung cancer
title_sort biomarkers for immunotherapy resistance in non small cell lung cancer
topic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)
immunotherapy resistance
precision oncology strategies
biomarkers
circulating biomarkers
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fonc.2024.1489977/full
work_keys_str_mv AT catrionarother biomarkersforimmunotherapyresistanceinnonsmallcelllungcancer
AT tomjohn biomarkersforimmunotherapyresistanceinnonsmallcelllungcancer
AT anniewong biomarkersforimmunotherapyresistanceinnonsmallcelllungcancer
AT anniewong biomarkersforimmunotherapyresistanceinnonsmallcelllungcancer