Image Cytometry

29
JUN

29. June 2022

Understanding the Tumour Immune Microenvironment

Biomedicine relies heavily on understanding the immune system on a microscopic level. Specifically, regarding cancer treatments, the investigation into the tumour immune microenvironment is paramount in developing effective new treatment strategies for the debilitating disease. The tumour immune microenvironment includes a diverse array of tumor infiltrating immune cells, and understanding the underlying processes can provide insight into the progress of cancer cells and immune mechanisms that may be compromised when a patient has cancer. This blog post will summarize why understanding the tumour immune microenvironment is vital to research and health as well as review some advanced solutions to enable scientific progress in this field.

The Need for Tumour Immune Microenvironment Research
In recent years novel immune checkpoint markers such as PD-1, PDL1, CTLA-4 were detected to be effective targets for anti-cancer therapy. The positive impact of antibodies targeting those molecules was shown for several cancer types including lung cancer, colon cancer and melanoma. But not all patients benefit from immune checkpoint therapies. Therefore, approaches such as uncovering mechanisms, immune cell types, interactions, dynamics etc. within the tumor immune microenvironment could help predict how effective a therapy is for any given patient.

Furthermore, research into the tumour immune microenvironment could help biomedical scientists identify novel significant immune-related biomarkers, such as immune checkpoints, that could serve as potential therapeutic targets in the future and or as predictors of therapy success.

To conduct tumour immune microenvironment research efficiently and successfully, innovative technologies specializing in image cytometry are important to consider. The following section of this blog will highlight two specific examples of solutions by TissueGnostics that are helping scientists further understand the complex tumour immune microenvironment.

Studying the Tumour Immune Microenvironment with TissueGnostics
As a leader in high content tissue analysis and spatial biology, TissueGnostics provides high-performing solutions, such as StrataQuest, to meet tumour immune microenvironment research objectives. This product can detect tumours on morphological strains without requiring the staining of specific structures. Furthermore, specific immune cells can be identified in the tumour area when imaging, which enables scientists to more easily collect data and perform a visual analysis of the tumour immune microenvironment.

TissueGnostics has also developed the IHC Immune Status in situ App as well as the IF Immune Status in situ App; both being specifically designed to be used in tumour immunology. These Apps detect stained cell populations, and when combined with tumor and lymphocyte cluster detection and proximity capabilities, this technology can answer many questions regarding the tumour immune microenvironment.

With products and services aimed at helping the biomedical field to better understand the tumour immune microenvironment, TissueGnostics remains at the forefront of scientific innovation and medical impact. Experts at TissueGnostics provide their clients with sophisticated solutions that have been designed to ensure accurate and detailed data extraction of the tumour immune microenvironment.

Further details about the various products and services available can be found on our website. If you are interested in learning more about the tumour immune microenvironment or any related products and services, please reach out to a member of the TissueGnostics team.

References
• https://tissuegnostics.com/products
• https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-018-0014-x
• https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2021.624725/full#
• https://tissuegnostics.com/products/contextual-image-analysis/strataquest-app/ihc-meta-cells-app-stroma-and-tumor-detection-on-morphological-stains
• https://tissuegnostics.com/products/contextual-image-analysis/strataquest-app/ihc-immune-status-in-situ-app-tumor-immunology

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