Abstract
As trials of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapies demonstrate responses in only a minority of pleural mesotheliomas (PlMs) and largely exclude patients with the related peritoneal mesothelioma (PeM), clinicians need predictive biomarkers of response and inclusion of PeM patients in future trials. A new study finds that loss of the deubiquitinase BAP1 in PeM correlates with an inflammatory tumor microenvironment, suggesting that BAP1 status might identify PeM, and possibly PlM, patients who would benefit from ICI therapy.
Highlights
As trials of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapies demonstrate responses in only a minority of pleural mesotheliomas (PlMs) and largely exclude patients with the related peritoneal mesothelioma (PeM), clinicians need predictive biomarkers of response and inclusion of PeM patients in future trials
In a recent study published in Genome Medicine, Shrestha and colleagues [3] perform an integrated genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic analysis of 19 PeM cases
The investigators went on to show that BAP1 loss in PeM is associated with a more inflamed tumor microenvironment and propose that this finding could be useful as a predictive marker of responsiveness to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs)
Summary
As trials of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapies demonstrate responses in only a minority of pleural mesotheliomas (PlMs) and largely exclude patients with the related peritoneal mesothelioma (PeM), clinicians need predictive biomarkers of response and inclusion of PeM patients in future trials. The investigators went on to show that BAP1 loss in PeM is associated with a more inflamed tumor microenvironment and propose that this finding could be useful as a predictive marker of responsiveness to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). * Correspondence: ladanyim@mskcc.org The article related to this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1186/ s13073-019-0620-3 1Department of Pathology and Human Oncology and Pathogenesis Program, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, 1275 York Avenue, New York, NY 10065, USA Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
