Standardized Immunomonitoring: Separating the Signals from the Noise

Classical immunoassays are routinely performed in the clinic for disease diagnosis and monitoring. Recent advances in phenotyping technologies offer huge potential in expanding the breadth of immune response monitoring. Challenges remain, however, in translating many of these tools to routine clinical practice. This Opinion focuses on two strategies that may advance the clinical adoption of immune-based biomarkers: protein-based assays employing digital readouts can reduce nonspecific signals that limit more classical assays; and approaches that stimulate immune responses in more standardized ways can help to reveal disease-specific immune response signatures by elevating the signal above the background. The integration of such immune response phenotypes is a critical step for the increased implementation of precision medicine-based strategies.