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ARTICLE | Preclinical News

Blood-based assay could predict Tecentriq's benefit in NSCLC

August 7, 2018 10:10 PM UTC

A blood-based tumor mutation burden (bTMB) assay could predict anti-PD-L1 mAb Tecentriq atezolizumab's clinical benefit in non-small cell lung cancer patients. The Genentech Inc. unit of Roche (SIX:ROG; OTCQX:RHHBY), Foundation Medicine Inc. (NASDAQ:FMI) and academic colleagues published the findings in Nature Medicine.

Evidence suggests PD-L1 and PD-1 inhibitors improve outcomes for patients with high TMB, an emerging biomarker believed to indicate how well T cells can see tumor cells. Recent studies have focused on defining TMB-high status (see "Redrawing the Lines")...