Methods of using biomarkers for predicting the outcome of an immunotherapy against cancer

A method for predicting whether an immunotherapy will have a beneficial effect in a cancer patient, comprising

• a) determining a level of CCL17/TARC (chemokine C-C motif ligand 17/thymus and activation regulated chemokine) in a sample from said cancer patient, wherein a level of said marker at least 10% higher as compared to a median level of said marker in a given cancer patient population is indicative of a beneficial effect of an immunotherapy for said cancer patient, wherein said cancer patient is experiencing a cancer selected from the group consisting of renal cell carcinoma (RCC), colorectal cancer (CRC), gastric cancer (GC), melanoma, non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC), glioblastoma, and adenocarcinomas of any type;
• and, optionally,
• b) determining a level of at least one marker selected from the group consisting of B-cell attracting chemokine (CXCL13/BCA-1), neutrophils, interleukin-6 (IL-6), and short-chain acylcarnitines in a sample from said cancer patient, wherein a level of said marker at least 10% lower compared to a median level of said marker in a given cancer patient population is indicative of a beneficial effect of an immunotherapy for said patient,
• wherein said sample is selected from the group consisting of whole blood, peripheral blood, or fractions thereof, serum, buffy coat, tumor tissue, lymphatic fluid, urine, bone marrow, EDTA plasma, heparinized plasma, citrate plasma, heparinized whole blood, and frozen samples thereof, including frozen heparinized whole blood;
• wherein said determining comprises at least one method selected from the group consisting of immunoassays, bead-based immunoassays, multiplex immunoassays, ELISA, microarray based assays, epigenetic assays, expression analysis, FACS analysis, established methods of hematology, proteomics, and mass spectrometry;
• wherein said immunotherapy comprises vaccination with an anti-cancer vaccine, optionally together with an adjuvant, which optionally comprises GM-CSF, wherein said vaccination is at least one vaccine comprising at least one immunogenic peptide selected from the group of SEQ ID NO:
• 1 to 37;
• and
• wherein said beneficial effect is selected from the group consisting of longer overall survival, occurrence of single and/or multiple T-cell responses induced by the immunotherapy, retardation of tumor growth, tumor shrinkage, and longer progression-free survival.