Tumour DNA and immune clues may show who a lymphoma drug will actually help

Not every patient responds to the same cancer drug, and finding out the hard way costs precious time. In a phase 2 trial reported in Nature Communications, researchers studied 17 people with a type of lymphoma and found a pattern: patients whose tumours carried mutations in a signalling system T cells use to recognise targets responded to the drug dasatinib, and their cancer-fighting immune cells multiplied. Patients with a different, age-related set of blood mutations responded less well. The clues could help doctors match the drug to the people most likely to benefit — and spare others a treatment that will not work for them.

SDG 3 · Good health and well-being — Mechanism: tech innovation