Are you active in immuno-oncology? If so, you’re not alone — there are now hundreds of IO compounds in clinical development plus many more being investigated in pre-clinical studies.
We believe that pre-clinical studies supported by more of the right biospecimens, annotated with comprehensive clinical metadata including response to therapy, drive superior research, which ultimately enables novel IO products.
MT Group supported some of the first pre-clinical checkpoint inhibitor studies and instituted a comprehensive IO program in 2015 that has enrolled thousands of patients in biospecimen collections across diverse cancer types.
As approved checkpoint inhibitor therapies have become more common in oncology management, we have broadened our IO capabilities, supporting diverse projects such as longitudinal blood collections (pre-therapy, on-therapy, and at relapse) and more recently, post-IO therapy tissue collections.
IO Therapies Available for Prospective Collection Design
Prospective collections can be designed to enroll patients receiving specific therapeutic regimens, enabling direct comparisons between different checkpoint inhibitor approaches. MT Group’s collection sites include both academic centers and community-based oncology practices and collections targeting the widely adopted therapies in community practice achieve faster enrollment than those requiring less common regimens available at academic centers. Potential therapies for prospective collection include:
PD-1/PD-L1 Inhibitors:
- Pembrolizumab (Keytruda) – anti-PD-1
- Nivolumab (Opdivo) – anti-PD-1
- Durvalumab (Imfinzi) – anti-PD-L1
- Atezolizumab (Tecentriq) – anti-PD-L1
- Cemiplimab (Libtayo) – anti-PD-1
CTLA-4 Inhibitors:
- Ipilimumab (Yervoy) – anti-CTLA-4
- Tremelimumab (Imjudo) – anti-CTLA-4
Combination Therapies:
- Durvalumab + tremelimumab
- Nivolumab + ipilimumab
- IO agents combined with chemotherapy or targeted therapies
Cancer Types with IO Treatment History
MT Group has collected IO experienced biospecimens across tumor types where checkpoint inhibitor therapy has become standard of care:
- Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (NSCLC)
- Melanoma
- Head & Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma
- Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC)
- Bladder Cancer (Urothelial Carcinoma)
- Gastric and Gastroesophageal Junction (GEJ) Cancer
- Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC)
- Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
- Microsatellite Instability-High (MSI-H) Tumors
- Hodgkin Lymphoma
Examples of Prospective IO Blood Collections
MT Group designs longitudinal blood collection studies that capture immune responses throughout the IO treatment journey. Potential longitudinal study designs include:
IO Monitoring Design:
- Baseline (pre-treatment)
- Cycle 1 Day 1 (first infusion, pre-dose)
- Week 3-4 (after first infusion, during induction phase)
- Month 3 (on-treatment, early response assessment)
- Month 6 (on-treatment, durable response evaluation)
- Progression or relapse (understanding resistance mechanisms)
- Optional: additional timepoints at month 12, 18, 24 for long-term responders
Perioperative IO Design:
- Pre-neoadjuvant baseline
- Post-neoadjuvant, pre-surgery
- Post-surgery (residual disease assessment)
- During adjuvant therapy phase
- Long-term follow-up (immune memory evaluation)
Response Kinetics Design:
- Pre-treatment baseline
- Early kinetics (week 2-3, capturing immediate immune activation)
- On-treatment steady-state (months 3, 6, 9)
- Treatment interruption or change (switching to alternative therapy)
- Progression timepoints
These longitudinal collections enable research into early response biomarkers, immune cell kinetics, mechanisms of resistance, and long-term immune memory in IO-treated patients.
MT Group’s IO Capabilities
- NSCLC, melanoma, head & neck SCC, gastric cancer, RCC, bladder cancer and others
- Fresh tumor tissue
- FFPE tumor tissue
- Fresh and processed blood
- Longitudinal collections (pre-therapy, on-therapy, remission, recurrence)
- Outcome data including response assessment
- Specific therapeutic regimens including IO monotherapy and combinations
- PD-L1 scoring data (TPS, CPS) when available
- Treatment response biospecimens from responders, non-responders, and progression events
Contact us today to explore our IO experienced biospecimen inventory or discuss custom prospective collections for translational immuno-oncology research supporting your checkpoint inhibitor development programs.
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