Related Experiment Video

Updated: Feb 1, 2026

The Clinical Application of Tumor Treating Fields Therapy in Glioblastoma
08:00

The Clinical Application of Tumor Treating Fields Therapy in Glioblastoma

Published on: April 16, 2019

19.3K

Approach to evaluating tumor mutational burden in routine clinical practice

John Truesdell1, Vincent A Miller1, David Fabrizio1

  • 1Foundation Medicine, Inc., Cambridge, MA, USA.

Translational Lung Cancer Research
|December 4, 2018
PubMed

Insights

Predicting immunotherapy response is crucial. This review explores tumor mutational burden (TMB) as a promising biomarker, discussing measurement and standardization efforts for better treatment outcomes.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Immunology
  • Biomarker Discovery

Background:

  • Immune checkpoint inhibitors offer therapeutic promise but patient response is often unpredictable.
  • Predictive biomarkers are essential for selecting patients likely to benefit from these costly treatments.
  • Programmed death ligand (PD-L1) expression via immunohistochemistry (IHC) is a limited predictive biomarker due to biological and technical complexities.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To review current approaches for measuring tumor mutational burden (TMB).
  • To highlight ongoing efforts in harmonizing TMB as a predictive biomarker for immunotherapy.
  • To underscore the need for standardized biomarker assessment in cancer treatment.

Main Methods:

  • Review of existing literature on TMB measurement techniques.
  • Discussion of standardization initiatives for TMB assessment.
  • Analysis of TMB's role as a predictive biomarker in immunotherapy.

Main Results:

  • Tumor mutational burden (TMB) shows promise as a predictive biomarker for immunotherapy efficacy across various tumor types.
  • TMB is expected to be integrated into future treatment algorithms for immune checkpoint inhibitors.
  • Standardization of TMB measurement is critical for consistent and reliable clinical application.

Conclusions:

  • Harmonizing TMB measurement is essential for accurate prediction of immunotherapy response.
  • Standardized TMB assessment will facilitate meaningful comparisons of treatment efficacy.
  • Further efforts are needed to refine and standardize TMB as a key biomarker in clinical oncology.
Keywords:
Tumor mutational burden (TMB)comprehensive genomic profiling (CGP)non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC)

More Related Videos

A Practical Guide for the Production and PET/CT Imaging of 68Ga-DOTATATE for Neuroendocrine Tumors in Daily Clinical Practice08:55

A Practical Guide for the Production and PET/CT Imaging of 68Ga-DOTATATE for Neuroendocrine Tumors in Daily Clinical Practice

Published on: April 17, 2019

18.9K
Next Generation Sequencing for the Detection of Actionable Mutations in Solid and Liquid Tumors11:15

Next Generation Sequencing for the Detection of Actionable Mutations in Solid and Liquid Tumors

Published on: September 20, 2016

25.1K

Related Concept Videos

Mutations01:39

Mutations

Overview
94.5K
Mutations01:35

Mutations

Mutations are changes in the sequence of DNA. These changes can occur spontaneously or they can be induced by exposure to environmental factors. Mutations can be characterized in a number of different ways: whether and how they alter the amino acid sequence of the protein, whether they occur over a small or large area of DNA, and whether they occur in somatic cells or germline cells.
Chromosomal Alterations Are Large-Scale Mutations
While point mutations are changes in a single nucleotide in...
44.5K
Viral Mutations00:36

Viral Mutations

A mutation is a change in the sequence of bases of DNA or RNA in a genome. Some mutations occur during replication of the genome due to errors made by the polymerase enzymes that replicate DNA or RNA. Unlike DNA polymerase, RNA polymerase is prone to errors because it is not capable of “proofreading” its work. Viruses with RNA-based genomes, like HIV, therefore accrue mutations faster than viruses with DNA-based genomes. Because mutation and recombination provide the raw material...
39.9K
Irritable Bowel Syndrome II: Clinical Features and Diagnostic Evaluation01:30

Irritable Bowel Syndrome II: Clinical Features and Diagnostic Evaluation

Irritable Bowel Syndrome II: Clinical Features and Diagnostic Evaluation
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is classified into subtypes based on the predominant bowel habits as determined by the Bristol Stool Form Scale (BSFS). The subtypes are:
783
Peripheral Arterial Disease II: Clinical Manifestations and Diagnostic Evaluation01:21

Peripheral Arterial Disease II: Clinical Manifestations and Diagnostic Evaluation

Clinical manifestationsPeripheral Arterial Disease (PAD) manifests through a range of symptoms, from the characteristic intermittent claudication to atypical presentations and severe complications in advanced stages. Intermittent claudication, a hallmark symptom of PAD, presents as exercise-induced muscle pain that typically resolves within minutes of rest. This pain is reproducible and stems from inadequate blood flow, leading to the accumulation of lactic acid produced during anaerobic...
431
Mutation, Gene Flow, and Genetic Drift01:09

Mutation, Gene Flow, and Genetic Drift

In a population that is not at Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, the frequency of alleles changes over time. Therefore, any deviations from the five conditions of Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium can alter the genetic variation of a given population. Conditions that change the genetic variability of a population include mutations, natural selection, non-random mating, gene flow, and genetic drift (small population size).
64.3K