Luciano Mutti, MD, professor of Cancer Research, University of Salford Manchester, discusses the current role of immunotherapy for patients with mesothelioma.

The current role of immunotherapy for patients with mesothelioma is still unknown and should be better defined, Mutti explains. There is some biological data that is against the use of immunotherapy for mesothelioma.

The response rate of immunotherapy is not particularly effective, but Mutti says it is particularly important to look at what the survival rate will be in the future for a patient treated with immunotherapy. Until these results are available, physicians must be cautious when using immunotherapy to treat patients with mesothelioma.

Videos

Dr. Mutti on Current Role of Immunotherapy for Mesothelioma

Luciano Mutti, MD, professor in Cancer Research, University of Salford Manchester, discusses predicting clinical response to immunotherapy agents for patients with mesothelioma.

Determining which patients will be likely to respond to immunotherapeutic agents is difficult, Mutti explains. PD-1/PD-L1 expression is suggested to be a valid biomarker of response, though it is imperfect. Therefore, more well-funded research needs to be conducted to further biomarker development.

Before starting a new treatment for patients with mesothelioma—and across all tumors, he adds&mdash;it is imperative that physicians determine the biology of the disease in order to truly administer optimal therapies and test for possible biomarkers and/or alterations.

Luciano Mutti, MD

Articles

Dr. Mutti on Current Role of Immunotherapy for Mesothelioma

Dr. Mutti on Predicting Response to Immunotherapy for Mesothelioma