Improving the efficacy of immunotherapy by integrating diagnostic methods with therapeutic methods

摘要

The invention described herein relates to improved strategies for designing and practicing treatments and clinical trials based upon active immunotherapy protocols, particularly by making diagnostic use of portions of the therapeutic regimen and adjusting the course of treatment if necessary. Embodiments of the invention include methods for determining a course of treatment and methods for treating a patient in which responsiveness to a non-final step of a multi-step active immunotherapy protocol is assessed to determine if, how and when to continue treatment, progress to a different stage of treatment, or discontinue treatment.