Kinase activity profiles as prognostic marker for immunotherapy in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC)

Background In the relapsed or distant metastatic situation of HNSCC, the EXTREME protocol (combination therapy with cisplatin, 5-FU and cetuximab) has been the therapy standard, so far. Recent study results led to a paradigm shift and the establishment of immune checkpoint inhibitors such as anti-PD-1-antibodies in this situation. In addition, immune check point inhibitors can also be used in platinum refractory / resistant tumors as 1^st line therapy. However, as only 13-18 % respond to therapy (overall response rate) and prognostic markers are needed to identify responders and non-responders, i) to guide non-responders to a more appropriate therapy, ii) to save them from serious side effects and iii) to enable an economical use of these expensive therapeutics. Based on the work from colleagues from the Netherlands (Hurkmans et al., ASCO 2018), we will investigate if the kinase activity in peripheral blood cells (PBMC) predicts the respond towards the treatment with PD-L1 antibodies.

Methods Blood samples from patients before and during treatment with a anti-PD-1-antibody (nivolumab or pembrolizumab) are prospectively collected and the tyrosine kinase activity profile is determined using a PamStation^®12 and corresponding PamChips. Based on the patients' survival and response data, a binary clustering of patients in responders and non-responders can be performed and will be correlated with the corresponding data from the kinome analyzes.

Poster-PDF A-1831.PDF

Publication History

Article published online:
10 June 2020