Plattform Life Sciences 2/2017

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nisms underlying AID. Instead, non-genetic biomarkers are vital to detect changes in the biological processes associated with pati- ents’ individual diseases. Moreover, AID is a potential side effect of cancer immunotherapies when the immune system becomes overstimulated.3 Through weaponizing the body’s immune system against cancer, immunotherapies are already showing great promise, although only a small percentage of patients currently respond to treatment.4,5 Therefore, monitoring the effec- tiveness of immunotherapies and preventing irAEs such as AID requires a CDx tool that can help restore the delicate balance between im- mune stimulation and repression6 (Figure 1). We need new CDx solutions to inform AID treatment, as well as to potentially restore 3) Kong, Y. M. & Flynn, J. C. Opportunistic Autoimmune Disorders Potentiated by Immune-Checkpoint Inhibitors Anti-CTLA-4 and Anti-PD-1. Front. Immunol. 5, 206 (2014). 4) Anagastou, V. & Brahmer, J. Cancer immunotherapy: a future paradigm shift in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. Clin. Cancer Res. 21, 976–984 (2015). 5) Powles, T. et al. MPDL3280A (anti-PD-L1) treatment leads to clinical activity in metastatic bladder cancer. Nature 515, 558–562 (2014). 6) Yuan, J. et al. Novel technologies and emerging biomar- kers for personalized cancer immunotherapy. J. Immunother. Cancer 4, 3 (2016). the balance of the immune system in those suffering from cancer and being treated with immunotherapies. In both cases, autoanti- bodies could be the answer. Autoantibodies as biomarkers in cancer immunotherapies and AID Autoantibody production underlies both cancer immunotherapies and AID, and is highly detectable in patients’ blood serum. Therefore, although so far overlooked for systematic analysis, a CDx tool that can accu- rately monitor autoantibody signatures could enable precision medicine in cancer immunotherapies and AID. Autoantibody profi ling could help to stratify patients into clinically relevant disease subgroups, allowing targeted cancer treatments, as well as helping to monitor the risk of irAEs in patients undergoing immuno- therapy. In turn, this could help save time and resources during drug development, while also improving treatment success rates and patient outcomes. To showcase the value of this approach, we are currently conducting research colla- borations with the US National Cancer Insti- Märkte & Technologien tute (NCI) and the German National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT). The aim is to identify novel autoantibody signatures associated with specifi c cancer disease states and out- comes using Protagen’s proprietary bio- marker development engine, SeroTag. What‘s next for precision medicine? Applying a precision medicine approach in AID and immuno-oncology could transform drug development processes and treatment outcomes, potentially relieving signifi cant fi nancial strain on the healthcare industry and improving millions of lives. However, appropriate biomarker CDx tools have not yet been adopted in these markets, and as such could hinder the progression of promising new cancer immunotherapies and AID treatments. Therefore, we must identify other bio- markers beyond those rooted in genetics to harness the full advantages of precision medicine. Together with other genomic, pro- teomic and metabolomic biomarkers in a ‘multiplex-multimodality’ approach, autoan- tibody profi les could be a promising avenue towards unleashing the true potential of pre- cision medicine to combat cancer and AID. ANZEIGE E T A D E H T E V A S investment lab heilbronn LIFE SCIENCE KONGRESS IN HEILBRONN AM 21. UND 22. NOVEMBER 2017 »COMMERCIALIZING LIFE SCIENCE TECHNOLOGIES« Informationen zum Kongress unter: www.life-science.management S E E D F O N D S

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