Circulating protein biomarkers are a promising avenue for predicting patient response to cancer immunotherapies

Cancer immunotherapy relies on activating or enhancing the antitumor immune response and has taken a central position in cancer treatment modalities. While offering a generally safer and more efficacious alternative to standard chemotherapy and radiotherapy, not all patients respond to immunotherapy, and combination immunotherapies increase cost of treatment and heighten the risk for toxicity-related adverse events. An understanding of the molecular factors that contribute to clinical outcomes could enable improved selection of subject cohorts; therefore, identifying predictive biomarkers of immunotherapy response has become a growing focus of immuno-oncology research.