BioCentury
ARTICLE | Distillery Techniques

Biomarkers

October 3, 2017 7:40 PM UTC

Serum levels of VEGF-C could help predict responses to immunotherapies in patients with solid tumors. In sera from 20 metastatic melanoma patients vaccinated with melan-A (MLANA; MART1) peptide and the toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) agonist CpG7909, high VEGF-C concentrations were associated with large numbers of circulating MLANA-specific CD8+ T cells and high expression of interferon γ (IFNγ) and other pro-inflammatory cytokines by those T cells. In a separate cohort of 76 metastatic melanoma patients treated with a combination of the anti-CTLA-4 mAb Yervoy ipilimumab and the anti-PD-1 mAb Opdivo nivolumab, high serum levels of VEGF-C were associated with progression-free survival. Next steps include confirming the findings in larger cohorts of patients with melanoma and other solid tumors receiving immunotherapies.

Pfizer Inc. has CpG7909 in Phase II testing for melanoma...