Network for biomarker immunoprofiling for cancer immunotherapy: Cancer Immune Monitoring and Analysis Centers and Cancer Immunologic Data Commons (CIMAC-CIDC)

Abstract

Immunoprofiling to identify biomarkers and integration with clinical trials outcome are critical to improve immunotherapy approaches for cancer patients. However, the translational potential of individual studies is often limited by small sample size of trials and the complexity of immuno-oncology biomarkers. Variability in assays further limits comparison and interpretation of data across studies and laboratories. To enable a systematic approach to biomarker identification and correlation with clinical outcome across trials, the Cancer Immune Monitoring and Analysis Centers and Cancer Immunologic Data Commons (CIMAC-CIDC) Network was established through support of the Cancer MoonshotSM Initiative of the National Cancer Institute and the Partnership for Accelerating Cancer Therapies (PACT) with industry partners via the Foundation for the National Institutes of Health. The CIMAC-CIDC Network is composed of four academic centers (CIMACs) with multidisciplinary expertise in the field of cancer immunotherapy that provide validated and harmonized assays for immune profiling. A data coordinating center (CIDC) provides the computational expertise and resources for biomarker data storage and analysis platforms for correlation with clinical data. This overview highlights strategies for assay harmonization to enable cross-trial and cross-site data analysis and describes key elements for establishing a network to enhance immuno-oncology biomarker development. These include an operational infrastructure; validation and harmonization of core immunoprofiling assays; platforms for data ingestion and integration; and access to specimens from clinical trials. Published in the same volume are reports of harmonization for core analyses: whole exome sequencing, RNA sequencing, cytometry by time of flight, and immunohistochemistry/immunofluorescence.