ENTPD1/CD39 as a predictive marker of treatment response to gemogenovatucel-T as maintenance therapy in newly diagnosed ovarian cancer.

Treatment options are limited in patients with advanced stage ovarian cancer. Treatments that stimulate the immune system to target the cancer are sometimes effective, however determining which patients will have benefit has been difficult. It is therefore important to develop new markers to predict which patients will respond to therapy. In this study, we looked at the levels of a large number of genes in tumors from patients treated with Vigil (gemogenovatucel-T), a treatment that modifies patient's own tumor cells to activate the immune system. We demonstrate that high expression of a gene named ENTPD1/CD39 predicts a positive response to Vigil therapy. This finding could help clinicians to determine which patients might benefit from Vigil treatment and therefore might guide decisions on who should receive this treatment.