Targeting minimal residual disease: a path to cure?

Therapeutics that block kinases, transcriptional modifiers, immune checkpoints and other biological vulnerabilities are transforming cancer treatment. As a result, many patients achieve dramatic responses, including complete radiographical or pathological remission, yet retain minimal residual disea...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Luskin, Marlise R., Murakami, Mark A., Weinstock, David M., Manalis, Scott R
Other Authors: Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Biological Engineering
Format: Article
Language:en_US
Published: Nature Publishing Group 2018
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/118912
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5223-9433
Description
Summary:Therapeutics that block kinases, transcriptional modifiers, immune checkpoints and other biological vulnerabilities are transforming cancer treatment. As a result, many patients achieve dramatic responses, including complete radiographical or pathological remission, yet retain minimal residual disease (MRD), which results in relapse. New functional approaches can characterize clonal heterogeneity and predict therapeutic sensitivity of MRD at a single-cell level. Preliminary evidence suggests that iterative detection, profiling and targeting of MRD would meaningfully improve outcomes and may even lead to cure.