2016 April

The word "marker" is defined, in medical terms, as "something that serves to identify, predict, or characterize." A variation on this word, known as a biological marker, or biomarker (defined as a measurable indicator of a biological condition) takes this concept one step further.

Biologics therapy spending soared several hundred percent from 2004 to 2014; but despite rising treatment costs in general, oncology spending kept pace with spending for all categories of medical care, according to a report on Medicare and commercial data from the Community Oncology Alliance.

The therapeutic armamentarium for multiple myeloma is ever expanding, according to Sundar Jagannath, MD.

Advances in the treatment of cancer have been possible due to the use of agents that target genomic mutations involving oncogenic signaling and immune regulatory pathways. These advances have resulted in major paradigm shifts in our clinical approach to the patient with metastatic cancer.

Unlike traditional diagnostics that measure the presence, absence, or altered levels of a single analyte, immuno-oncology diagnostics seek to coalesce large amounts of immunological and tumor information into "signatures" that can be used to guide patient care.

Immunotherapy for cancer has been studied in the laboratory and in early-phase trials for decades. Larger trials were not often successful enough, though in the last five years, a revolution has centered around the clinical success of checkpoint blockade with CTLA-4 and PD-1 antibodies.

Squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck (SCCHN) is an immunosuppressive disease, as its patients often demonstrate immune dysregulation that correlates with poorer outcomes. Trials are underway combining chemoradiotherapy with immune checkpoint inhibitors.