Our lab received new break-through award to study predictive genomic biomarker for precision immuno-oncology

The fight against the most lethal form of breast cancer, Triple-Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC), has received a substantial boost. A pioneering project from our lab has been awarded a prestigious breakthrough grant from the Department of Defense for its study on intragenic rearrangement burden in breast cancer precision immuno-oncology. TNBC accounts for 10-20% of breast cancer morbidity but a disproportionally high mortality rate, highlighting the urgent need for more effective and precision treatment.

This project aims to characterize a major new class of cryptic genetic aberrations, called intragenic rearrangements, potentially revolutionizing neoantigen estimation and the effectiveness of Immune Checkpoint Blockade (ICB) therapy. Current predictive biomarkers in TNBC and other cancers like ovarian and esophageal cancers have shown limited success in predicting therapy responses, creating a major gap in precision immuno-oncology.

The development of an Intragenic Rearrangement (IGR) burden-based predictive marker promises to increase the precision and effectiveness of ICB therapy, minimize severe side effects, and avoid unnecessary healthcare expenditures. Moreover, the recent advent of a $100 Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) machine dramatically lowers sequencing costs, making WGS-based precision immuno-oncology a feasible option for clinical application.

This study not only solves an unmet need in the realm of immuno-oncology but also sets the stage for a new paradigm in precision medicine for combating lethal breast cancer.