Proteomic biomarker technology for cancer immunotherapy

Immunotherapies are a central treatment modality in cancer therapeutics, yet much is still to be determined about their complex mechanisms of action that will allow us to stratify patients based on their likelihood of benefitting from this treatment strategy. Proteomic-based strategies are uniquely poised to investigate these essential questions. Here, we discuss proteomic technologies used for the discovery, validation, and clinical utilization of biomarkers. For each technology, we have included a brief overview of technique, examples of recent demonstrations of the technology relevant to cancer immunotherapy, and a summary of the strengths and limitations of each technology as well as barriers to realizing their potential in the clinical setting. We have focused on how each of these technologies can be used to understand the complex interplay between tumor and immune cells during immunotherapy as well as predict responses to immunotherapy. Lastly, we discuss how proteomic technologies can be used to elucidate and predict the development of immune-related adverse events, a common barrier to utilization of immunotherapy.