The term “tumor mutation burden” refers to the number of mutations, or changes, seen in the DNA of your cancer cells. It is now one of the biomarkers used to determine cancer treatments. Studies suggest that tumors with a high number of mutations may be more likely to respond to a type of immunotherapy called a checkpoint inhibitor.
Below you can read more about how researchers are using tumor mutation burden to determine which treatments might be best for which patients. You will also find articles specific to studies that have looked at the relationship between tumor mutation burden and treatment outcomes in patients with metastatic breast cancer.
- Cholangiocarcinoma Foundation: For Cancer Patients, Mutations Matter
- Scientific American: Tumor Mutation Burden: Unlocking Cancer’s Genetic Fingerprint
- Bristol-Myers Squibb: Tumor Mutational Burden (image)
- Biorxiv.org: Prevalence and mutational determinants of high tumor mutation burden in breast cancer
- OncLive: High TMB Metastatic Breast Cancer Responds to Pembrolizumab Monotherapy
- Cancer Research: Abstract 4894: Incidence of high tumor mutation burden (TMB) and PD-L1 positivity in breast cancers and potential response to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICPIs)
- European Society for Medical Oncology: Perspectives from ASCO 2018: Tumor Mutation Burden, a Novel Biomarker (video)
Last Modified on February 10, 2021