Identification of biomarkers of immune checkpoint blockade efficacy in recurrent or refractory solid tumor malignancies

Patients with advanced solid malignancies recurrent or resistant to standard therapy have limited treatment options. The role of molecular biomarkers for predicting immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) efficacy are not well characterized in these patients. Tumor mutational profiles of 490 patients with a variety of advanced solid tumors enrolled in a prospective protocol were analyzed to identify prognostic and predictive biomarkers. ICB therapy was defined as treatment with any CTLA-4, PD-1, and/or PD-L1 monoclonal antibody. ICB treatment was associated with significantly improved overall survival compared to non-ICB therapy. Multivariate regression analysis of tumor mutation burden (TMB) and ICB, and their interaction term, showed favorable survival associated with ICB, unfavorable survival associated with TMB without ICB treatment, and improved outcome with increasing TMB in ICB treated patients. Tumor mutation was associated with worse survival, but these patients still benefitted from ICB. A more comprehensive multivariate analysis including cancer type, specific gene mutations, and TMB revealed that ICB treatment was an independent predictor of improved overall survival. Therefore, ICB-based therapeutic trials are beneficial in patients with advanced solid malignancies, but the most benefit may be restricted to patients with the right combination of TMB and specific tumor histology and genotype.