It’s not ‘just a tube of blood’: principles of protocol development, sample collection, staffing and budget considerations for blood-based biomarkers in immunotherapy studies

Immunotherapy for cancer is now a standard pillar in the armamentarium of treatments for many cancers. Immune checkpoint inhibitors, in particular, have resulted in significant therapeutic benefit and prolongation of survival in solid organ cancers, such as melanoma and lung cancer. However, the ext...

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Main Authors: Michael D Green, Lili Zhao, Dean E Brenner, Cindy Y Jiang, Zeqi Niu, Shelby Raupp, Brittany Pannecouk, Sunitha Nagrath, Nithya Ramnath
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2021-07-01
Series:Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer
Online Access:https://jitc.bmj.com/content/9/7/e003212.full
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author Michael D Green
Lili Zhao
Dean E Brenner
Cindy Y Jiang
Zeqi Niu
Shelby Raupp
Brittany Pannecouk
Sunitha Nagrath
Nithya Ramnath
author_facet Michael D Green
Lili Zhao
Dean E Brenner
Cindy Y Jiang
Zeqi Niu
Shelby Raupp
Brittany Pannecouk
Sunitha Nagrath
Nithya Ramnath
author_sort Michael D Green
collection DOAJ
description Immunotherapy for cancer is now a standard pillar in the armamentarium of treatments for many cancers. Immune checkpoint inhibitors, in particular, have resulted in significant therapeutic benefit and prolongation of survival in solid organ cancers, such as melanoma and lung cancer. However, the extent of benefit is not uniform. There are several groups studying predictors of benefit from these therapies. Recently, there has been a burgeoning interest in studying predictive biomarkers from the blood. These markers include circulating tumor DNA, circulating tumor cells, lymphocyte subpopulations, exosomes and metabolites to name a few. The logistics involved in such biomarker work are complex and rigorous with potential to impact a given study. Such pre-analytic components include development of a rigorous protocol, standard operating procedures for collection and storage of various blood components, ethics of patient consent, personnel involved as well as budget considerations. In this primer, we lay out representative aspects of each of the aforementioned components as a guide to blood-based biomarker research for immunotherapy studies in cancer.
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publishDate 2021-07-01
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record_format Article
series Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer
spelling doaj-art-a3e7592b2b7b405d94fe4e9945cc66b22025-08-20T02:49:53ZengBMJ Publishing GroupJournal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer2051-14262021-07-019710.1136/jitc-2021-003212It’s not ‘just a tube of blood’: principles of protocol development, sample collection, staffing and budget considerations for blood-based biomarkers in immunotherapy studiesMichael D Green0Lili Zhao1Dean E Brenner2Cindy Y Jiang3Zeqi Niu4Shelby Raupp5Brittany Pannecouk6Sunitha Nagrath7Nithya Ramnath8chemistNeurology, Xi`an Jiaotong University Second Affiliated Hospital, Xi`an, Shaanxi, China6 Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA1 Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Michigan Medicine, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA2 Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA5 Precision Oncology Program, Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA5 Precision Oncology Program, Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA2 Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA5 Precision Oncology Program, Veterans Affairs Ann Arbor Healthcare System, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USAImmunotherapy for cancer is now a standard pillar in the armamentarium of treatments for many cancers. Immune checkpoint inhibitors, in particular, have resulted in significant therapeutic benefit and prolongation of survival in solid organ cancers, such as melanoma and lung cancer. However, the extent of benefit is not uniform. There are several groups studying predictors of benefit from these therapies. Recently, there has been a burgeoning interest in studying predictive biomarkers from the blood. These markers include circulating tumor DNA, circulating tumor cells, lymphocyte subpopulations, exosomes and metabolites to name a few. The logistics involved in such biomarker work are complex and rigorous with potential to impact a given study. Such pre-analytic components include development of a rigorous protocol, standard operating procedures for collection and storage of various blood components, ethics of patient consent, personnel involved as well as budget considerations. In this primer, we lay out representative aspects of each of the aforementioned components as a guide to blood-based biomarker research for immunotherapy studies in cancer.https://jitc.bmj.com/content/9/7/e003212.full
spellingShingle Michael D Green
Lili Zhao
Dean E Brenner
Cindy Y Jiang
Zeqi Niu
Shelby Raupp
Brittany Pannecouk
Sunitha Nagrath
Nithya Ramnath
It’s not ‘just a tube of blood’: principles of protocol development, sample collection, staffing and budget considerations for blood-based biomarkers in immunotherapy studies
Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer
title It’s not ‘just a tube of blood’: principles of protocol development, sample collection, staffing and budget considerations for blood-based biomarkers in immunotherapy studies
title_full It’s not ‘just a tube of blood’: principles of protocol development, sample collection, staffing and budget considerations for blood-based biomarkers in immunotherapy studies
title_fullStr It’s not ‘just a tube of blood’: principles of protocol development, sample collection, staffing and budget considerations for blood-based biomarkers in immunotherapy studies
title_full_unstemmed It’s not ‘just a tube of blood’: principles of protocol development, sample collection, staffing and budget considerations for blood-based biomarkers in immunotherapy studies
title_short It’s not ‘just a tube of blood’: principles of protocol development, sample collection, staffing and budget considerations for blood-based biomarkers in immunotherapy studies
title_sort it s not just a tube of blood principles of protocol development sample collection staffing and budget considerations for blood based biomarkers in immunotherapy studies
url https://jitc.bmj.com/content/9/7/e003212.full
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