76eTiP Prospective evaluation of HERV-K expression and antibody responses in ICI therapy: A biomarker study in NSCLC and HNSCC

The human genome contains a large amount of ancient retroviral insertions named human endogenous retroviruses (HERV’s). Eight % of the total human genetic code consist of different HERV subtypes with HERV-K being the most studied. HERV-K is proposed as a new cancer target and spontaneous immunity against HERVs has been shown in 40% of LUAD patients in a 2023 study. Following immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) treatment, antibody titers toward HERV-K rose and positively correlated with survival after ICI cessation in a small subgroup of 7 patients.