On behalf of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC), the SITC Biomarkers Committee, the SITC Pathology Committee, and the 2024 SITC Clinical Immuno-Oncology Network (SCION) faculty, we are pleased to announce the publication of a commentary on measurement and interpretation of essential biomarkers in early clinical trials.
Immunotherapy of cancer is now a mainstay of modern oncologic practice and is being integrated with conventional modalities across clinical settings. SITC has initiated a Clinical Immuno-Oncology Network (SCION), where multi-disciplinary teams (including clinical oncologists, scientists/immunologists, biostatisticians, and patient advocates) and early career scholars develop immunotherapy clinical trial protocols during an intensive Workshop and Winter School. SCION participants have identified a critical gap in guidance for prioritization of biomarkers in immunotherapy clinical trials.
This commentary proposes an evidence-based consensus review process to generate a prioritized checklist of biomarkers for consideration. Biomarkers have been grouped based on strength of evidence, breadth of relevance, and feasibility of testing. SCION faculty will work with the SITC Biomarker and Pathology Committees to publish recommendations emerging from a forthcoming evidence-based consensus review. Leveraging the annual clinical trial workshop, SCION faculty will also evaluate emerging data to update recommendations as the field evolves.
We invite feedback from the community on the proposed process and prioritization framework through an online survey.
