Evaluation of TTV replication as a biomarker of immune checkpoint inhibitors efficacy in melanoma patients

PLoS One. 2021 Aug 9;16(8):e0255972. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0255972. eCollection 2021.

Abstract

Torque Teno Virus (TTV) is a small, non-enveloped, single-stranded and circular DNA virus that infects the majority of the population worldwide. Increased levels of plasma TTV viral load have been observed in various situations of immune deficiency or dysregulation, and several studies have suggested that TTV levels may be inversely correlated with immune competence. The measurement of TTV viremia by qPCR has been proposed as a potential biomarker for the follow-up of functional immune competence in immunosuppressed individuals, particularly hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients. We hypothesized that TTV viral load could be used as a prognostic marker of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) efficacy, and therefore investigated the TTV viral load in melanoma patients treated with nivolumab or pembrolizumab before and after 6 months of treatment. In the present study, TTV viral load was not different in melanoma patients before anti-PD-1 introduction compared to healthy volunteers, was not modified by ICI treatment and did not allowed to distinguish patients with treatment-sensitive tumor from patients with treatment-resistant tumor.

Publication types

  • Clinical Trial
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Biomarkers / analysis*
  • Case-Control Studies
  • DNA Virus Infections / virology*
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Humans
  • Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors / therapeutic use*
  • Immunocompromised Host
  • Male
  • Melanoma / drug therapy
  • Melanoma / immunology
  • Melanoma / pathology*
  • Melanoma / virology
  • Middle Aged
  • Prognosis
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Survival Rate
  • Torque teno virus / physiology*
  • Viral Load*
  • Viremia / virology*

Substances

  • Biomarkers
  • Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors

Grants and funding

MelBase is sponsored by the French National Cancer Institute (INCa), BMS, MSD, Novartis and Roche. The funder provided support in the form of salaries for authors W.M., and K.B.-P but did not have any additional role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section.