{"id":391461,"date":"2026-04-14T11:58:08","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T11:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/391461\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T11:58:08","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T11:58:08","slug":"new-biomarker-shows-which-patients-benefit-from-immunotherapy-healthcare-in-europe-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/391461\/","title":{"rendered":"new biomarker shows which patients benefit from immunotherapy \u2022 healthcare-in-europe.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Portrait<\/a><\/p>\n

Dr Eduard Batlle<\/p>\n

Image source: Hospital del Mar Research Institute<\/p>\n

Another key finding is that it may also help determine patient prognosis. The new marker enables measurement of the activity of a cytokine in the tumour microenvironment, TGF-beta, which is associated with poorer disease outcomes. High levels of CTHRC1 protein are linked to treatment resistance. This also suggests a potential therapeutic target in the form of inhibitors of this protein, which should be further investigated. “The tumour microenvironment plays a decisive role in the progression of colorectal cancer and in its response to treatments. Over the years, our research has shown that TGF-beta is a key regulator of this ecosystem, modulating the behaviour of stromal cells surrounding the tumour. The identification of CTHRC1 as a TGF-beta-induced factor exemplifies how basic research can lead to clinically applicable biomarkers,” states Dr Eduard Batlle, ICREA researcher at IRB Barcelona and member of CIBERONC.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In this same context, the findings may also help advance the use of immunotherapy in patients with colon and rectal cancer. Currently, this approach is applicable to only a very small proportion of patients-around 5%-and it is not effective in all cases. The study indicates that the presence of CTHRC1(+) CAFs makes it possible to determine the state of immune cells within the tumour and their ability to act against neoplastic cells. Moreover, its usefulness is not limited to patients previously considered eligible for this treatment.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“This biomarker improves the selection of patients who could potentially benefit from immunotherapy,” explains Dr Clara Montagut, also involved in the study and Head of Section of the Medical Oncology Department at Hospital del Mar and researcher at its institute. This, she notes, “could help guide therapeutic strategies for patients with colon and rectal cancer.” Furthermore, the results could be applicable to other tumour types, such as breast<\/a> and lung cancer<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

One of the major innovations of the study is that the presence of the validated marker can be determined using immunohistochemistry tests, which are routinely available in any hospital Pathology service. Dr Mar Iglesias, first author of the study, researcher at HMRIB and CIBERONC, and Head of the Pathology Department at Hospital del Mar (part of the dibi network), explains that “the results position CTHRC1(+) CAFs as a useful marker with the potential to be integrated into routine clinical practice in our services and hospitals, thereby helping to guide the selection of the most appropriate treatment for each patient.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

This study has been made possible thanks to the support of various organizations, including the Spanish Association Against Cancer (AECC).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Source: Hospital del Mar Research Institute\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dr Eduard Batlle Image source: Hospital del Mar Research Institute Another key finding is that it may also…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":391462,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[186405,163,85,186404,46,186403],"class_list":{"0":"post-391461","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-irbbarcelona-org-and-ciberonc-ciberisciii-bsky-social","9":"tag-health","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-irb-barcelona-and-ciberonc-ciber_isciii-brled-by-hospital-del-mar-research-institute-and-irbbarcelona-brled-by-researchmar-bsky-social","12":"tag-israel","13":"tag-x-led-by-hmar_research"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391461","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=391461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/391461\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/391462"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=391461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=391461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=391461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}