Research on colorectal cancer by Department of Medicine and UW Carbone Cancer Center members was featured in a recent news release. The investigation was led by Dustin Deming, MD (pictured at upper right), assistant professor, and Fotis Asimakopoulos, MD, PhD (pictured at lower right), associate professor, both of Hematology, Medical Oncology and Palliative Care. 

The duo teamed up to discover how a biomarker in the tumor microenvironment may better predict which patients with colorectal cancer (CRC) will benefit from immunotherapies and could serve as a drug target for others. 

The five-year survival rate for metastatic CRC patients is only 12 percent, and physicians hope to find ways to improve immune cell access to tumor sites to yield better immunotherapy outcomes. 

Drs. Deming and Asimakopoulos found that high tumor levels of versikine, which is generated from matrix processing of its parent protein versican, correlated with T cell infiltration. 

“We’re excited about versikine as a biomarker to identify those patients for whom an immunotherapy strategy is best,” said Dr. Deming. 

Resources:

• "Carbone Study Finds Protein That Improves Immune Response in Colon Cancer," UW School of Medicine and Public Health, August 9, 2017
• Hope C, Emmerich PB, Papadas A, Pagenkopf A, Matkowskyj KA, Van De Hey DR, Payne SN, Clipson L, Callander NS, Hematti P, Miyamoto S, Johnson MG, Deming DA, Asimakopoulos F. 2017. Versican-Derived Matrikines Regulate Batf3-Dendritic Cell Differentiation and Promote T Cell Infiltration in Colorectal Cancer. J Immunol. 199(5):1933-1941.