This looked interesting:
www.urotoday.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view_ua&id=2231632
Part of the Article:
Our pre-surgical study allowed for immunological studies to be conducted on both tumor tissues and blood samples. We initially reported an increased frequency of T cells expressing the inducible costimulator (ICOS) molecule in patients treated with anti-CTLA-4.(1, 8) An increased frequency of ICOS-expressing T cells has also recently been reported in breast cancer patients treated with another anti-CTLA-4 antibody known as Tremelimumab.(9) We demonstrated that ICOS-expressing T cells are effector cells that are capable of recognizing tumor antigens and producing IFN-g.(1, 8, 10) We also correlated an increase in ICOS-expressing CD4 T cells (CD4+ICOShi) with survival benefit in a small group of patients with metastatic melanoma who received treatment with anti-CTLA-4.(1) Taken together, these data implicate ICOS-expressing T cells as a possible biomarker of clinical benefit that can be monitored in patients receiving anti-CTLA-4 therapy.
In summary, our pre-surgical study with anti-CTLA-4 led to encouraging data regarding ICOS-expressing T cells as a novel biomarker that could be monitored for potential correlation with clinical benefit and use of anti-CTLA-4 as a possible new treatment strategy for patients with bladder cancer. These ideas should be explored in future studies
Jim
