A clinical trial coordinated by the Cancer Trials Centre has found that men with advanced prostate cancer could benefit more from immunotherapy if their tumours carry specific genetic and immune traits.
Immunotherapy, which harnesses the body’s immune system to fight cancer, has transformed treatment for many cancers. But prostate cancer, the most common cancer in men, has until now seen little impact.
The NEPTUNES trial, led by researchers at UCL and UCLH and published last week in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, tested two immunotherapy drugs, nivolumab and ipilimumab, in 74 patients whose cancer had spread and no longer responded to hormone treatment. These patients were chosen because their tumours carried certain DNA repair defects or high levels of immune cells.
Around one in three patients (32%) responded to treatment. Some groups saw even better results: there was a 70% response among patients with a DNA repair defect called ‘mismatch repair deficiency'.
NEPTUNES chief investigator Dr Mark Linch said: “Our findings suggest that immunotherapy could be a powerful option for a subset of prostate cancer patients with a certain immunogenic signature.”
He added: “The fact that we have patients alive and well over five years later is a very encouraging sign.”
Image: prostate cancer cells