Lung Cancer: Blood-based Biomarker Predicts Immunotherapy Success

Liquid biopsies have long held promise for diagnosis, treatment selection, and surveillance of lung cancer patients.  This articles summarizes results of two studies involving highly precise measurement of tumor mutational burden.  A burden of 16-fold or greater was associated with improved overall survival with immunotherapy (atezolizumab) compared to standard chemotherapy (docetaxel) in two prospective studies. Additional trials are ongoing.