Immunotherapy is any kind of treatment that utilizes the immune system for destroying cancer cells. The immune system naturally targets unhealthy biological materials that can end up in a person's body; these include viruses and bacteria that cause infections, but also cancer cells. As we go about our daily lives, our immune system is constantly surveying for threats in the body, and our immune system is in fact designed to recognize and destroy cancer cells. However, cancer cells can develop mechanisms for evading or escaping a person's natural immune system.

That is where immunotherapy comes into play. Immunotherapy is any treatment that enhances the ability of the immune system to destroy cancer cells in a person. One example is immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). There are several FDA-approved ICIs available for treating cancer. Another example of immunotherapy is engineered T cells. T cells are a type of cell that is part of the immune system; engineered T cells are designed to specifically target cancer cells.

Immunotherapy is the next generation of cancer treatments, and it has shown great promise in destroying cancer cells while also causing fewer side effects than many other types of cancer therapy. However, immunotherapy does not work in all patients. Our test, RELOAD, is designed to determine which patients are likely to benefit from immunotherapy. This precision oncology approach provides better information to patients and oncologists, so that the selected treatment course for each patient has a higher likelihood of being effective.

No. RELOAD is not designed to screen for cancer. There are many tests being developed to screen for cancer, and we encourage you to ask your doctor about these screening tests. RELOAD is utilized when a patient already knows they have cancer, and is used for determining the right treatment for a patient.

A patient's oncologist will prescribe RELOAD if the patient is a candidate for immunotherapy based on the type of cancer they have and any prior treatments they've received. A standard blood tube will then be collected and sent to a lab for running the test. Our team will process the data generated by the lab, and return results on HLA LOH status to the patient and their oncology team. The patient and oncology team then decide based on the RELOAD results whether immunotherapy is the right course of action for the patient. If immunotherapy is not right for a patient at that time, a different type of treatment can be prescribed.