Dissecting Toxicities of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors with Dr. Douglas Johnson, M.D., MSCI

Anti-PD-1 therapy has dramatically altered cancer treatments, but many unanswered questions remain. First, the need for more accurate biomarkers to provide clues to the pathogenesis of response and resistance, and to more accurately assign patients to effective treatment remains a key unmet need. Tumor cell expression of MHC class II and tumor mutational burden are two potential markers of response. Second, patients treated with anti-PD-1, especially when used in combination, frequently experience severe immune-related toxicities. Identifying patients at risk, clinically phenotyping clinical events, and determine effective treatment strategies remain unmet needs. In this presentation, Dr. Johnson will discuss his lab's work in identifying anti-PD-1 biomarkers, particularly focusing on MHC-II and tumor mutational burden, and in characterizing anti-PD-1 toxicities.