Yuxuan Wang, MD, PhD

Immunotherapy works by boosting the immune system to attack cancer cells and has improved the survival of many patients. An increasing number of cancer patients are now receiving immunotherapy, but there is no reliable way to predict who would have a good response. In addition, patients can experience a common side effect of immunotherapy, when the activated immune system attacks healthy organs, known as immune-related adverse events (irAEs). These side effects are often hard to diagnose until they have caused significant organ damage and can be life-threatening if not treated promptly. We have developed a new method, MethylSaferSeqS, that can provide an accurate measurement of the amount of remaining cancer in the body and detect early irAEs – all with a single blood test. MethylSaferSeqS can be applied to improve the care of cancer patients in several ways. First, it provides an early readout of treatment response and can identify the patients for whom immunotherapy is not working. These patients should be promptly switched to another therapy that could be more effective. Second, an accurate measurement of the remaining tumor in the body after completion of immunotherapy can identify the patients who should undergo additional treatments, such as surgery or chemotherapy, that would improve their chance of a cure. Lastly, an early detection of irAEs will allow timely treatments before serious damage is done to healthy organs. We will apply MethylSaferSeqS to samples collected from colorectal cancer patients who are receiving immunotherapy to test these goals.