The study is the first evidence that TKa measured in a simple plasma sample can be used in metastatic malignant melanoma to predict outcome of patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors and provide information for better risk assessment before initiating treatment in this patient group.

The study measures thymidine kinase activity (TKa) levels in plasma samples from 124 patients and correlates the TKa levels to tumor stage, treatment response rates, progression free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS). The study results demonstrate that in patients treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors, those with low TKa had more than 25 percent higher response rate than those with high TKa. Furthermore, PFS and OS was significantly longer (19.9 and >60 months vs. 12.6 and 18.5 months, respectively) in patients with low vs. high TKa.

“Our study constitutes the first evidence that TKa can predict response and survival in immune checkpoint inhibitor treated patients with metastatic melanoma. Currently, plasma LDH is the only biomarker used in the routine monitoring of these patients. Several other candidate biomarkers have been tested, but none of them have the advantages of DiviTum® TKa, which is a simpler non-invasive method for a single plasma marker. We will continue to further study TKa to establish its clinical use in malignant melanoma,” said Hildur Helgadottir, oncologist at the Karolinska University Hospital and lead investigator of the study.

“I am happy to see that DiviTumTKa shows both prognostic and predictive capabilities for patients with malignant melanoma. These results once again show that DiviTum®TKa has great potential beyond our initial area metastatic breast cancer,” said Anders Rylander, CEO of Biovica.

Link to ASCO abstract: https://meetinglibrary.asco.org/record/197096/abstract 

For medical or study related questions:
Hildur Helgadottir, MD, PhD, Lead Investigator
Phone: +46-70-755 77 22