Immune Cells Help Predict Survival Rates - 1252432

Thanks for sharing this. I don't know how big of a leap it is to the development of an anti immunosuppressant but if further investigations pan out it seems to be an exciting piece of puzzle to how the immune system works or doesn't work with lung cancer.

I think it's very interesting work. First, it implies that we may be able to refine staging of lung cancer, which is largely done to provide guidance of the anticipated prognosis of a person, to include biological factors and not just anatomic factors of where it is. Other work on gene signatures that I've described in some prior posts also provide a similar promise of providing additional information to help us clarify which patients are at greater or lesser risk of recurrence after potentially curative surgery. Though it's not standard yet, I don't think it'll be too long before some of these factors become validated enough to be incorporated into lung cancer staging -- likely in the next 1 or 2 versions of the staging system (revised every 5-7 years or so). I realize that's not "immediate", but getting incorporated into the next staging system would mean that the data are there almost right now...not quite, but I think most experts are true believers that we're only moving in the direction of biologic variables, whether gene or protein expression levels or immune activity, being incorporated to improve our ability to provide an accurate prognosis.

Second, I do think this work lends credence to the idea that lung cancer is an immunoresponsive cancer. I think we've really turned away from the skepticism that marred the field for much of the last decade or more, as several promising studies with immune-based treatments have emerged, but this only adds momentum to that concept.

-Dr. West