Outcome Prediction and Evaluation by Imaging the Key Elements of Therapeutic Responses to Cancer Immunotherapies Using PET

摘要

Cancer immunotherapy (also known as immuno-oncology), a promising anti-cancer strategy by harnessing the body's own immune system against cancer, has emerged as the "fifth therapeutic pilla" in the field of cancer treatment since surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and targeted therapy. Clinical efficacy of several immunotherapies has been demonstrated in clinical settings, however, only a small subset of patients exhibit dramatic or durable responses, with the highest reported frequency about 10-40% from single-agent PD-Ll/PD-1 inhibitors, suggesting the urgent need of consistent objective response biomarkers for monitoring therapeutic response accurately, predicting therapeutic efficacy and selecting responders. Key elements of therapeutic responses to cancer immunotherapies contain the cancer cell response and the alternation of inherent immunological characteristics.