Patients with “exceptional” response to cancer therapy studied at NCI

Since 2014, the National Cancer Institute has been genetically screening metastatic tumor tissue looking for the profiles of individuals who respond exceptionally well to therapy.  “The researchers screened 111 exceptional responders . . .  [and] In about a quarter of patients—26 to be exact—the team uncovered plausible molecular mechanisms that could explain the exceptional responses. The mechanisms have been broadly grouped into four categories: ability to repair DNA damage, intracellular signaling pathway activity, engagement by immune cells, and “prognostic genetics,” tumors with genetic features later known to be associated with favorable outcomes. The researchers also looked at combinations of genetic alterations that lead to the death of tumor cells when all are inactivated—a concept known as “synthetic lethality.”  MORE

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