Interventional Radiology for Local Immunotherapy in Oncology

Talimogene laherparepvec (T-VEC) is a herpes simplex virus type 1-derived oncolytic immunotherapy designed to selectively replicate within tumors and produce granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) to enhance systemic antitumor immune responses. T-VEC was compared with GM-CSF in patients with unresected stage IIIB to IV melanoma in a randomized open-label phase III trial.

Because responses of patients with cancer to immunotherapy can vary in success, innovative predictors of response to treatment are urgently needed to improve treatment outcomes. We aimed to develop and independently validate a radiomics-based biomarker of tumour-infiltrating CD8 cells in patients included in phase 1 trials of anti-programmed cell death protein (PD)-1 or anti-programmed cell death ligand 1 (PD-L1) monotherapy. We also aimed to evaluate the association between the biomarker, and tumour immune phenotype and clinical outcomes of these patients.