The challenges and opportunities of applying tumour mutational burden analysis to precision cancer medicine.

Abstract

The discovery and development of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) has revolutionised the management of human cancers. However, only a subset of patients responds to ICI therapy, even though immune evasion is a hallmark of cancer. Initially, treatment was administered to patients on the basis of expression levels of one of the targets of ICI therapy, programmed cell death ligand 1. In clinical trials, the high response rate of melanoma and non-small cell lung cancer patients to ICI therapy supported the basic premise of cancer immunotherapy, that tumour-specific mutated proteins trigger an immune response. Tumour mutational burden subsequently emerged as a potential biomarker for response to ICI therapy. This review summarises the evidence supporting the scientific rationale for TMB as a biomarker for ICI therapy and focuses on some of the major challenges associated with incorporation of TMB into routine clinical practice.