High-resolution spatial analysis of lung cancers reveals heterogeneity in tumor microenvironments

Tumor microenvironments (TMEs) are notoriously complex, often containing multiple distinct spatial niches of varying cellular composition and gene expression patterns. In this webinar, Dr. Yutaka Suzuki, Professor in the Department of Computational Biology and Medical Sciences at the University of Tokyo, will discuss his work on the TME of lung cancer. Researchers in the laboratory of Dr. Suzuki have been combining insights from single cell and spatial transcriptome analyses. Unbiased Visium Spatial and targeted high-resolution Xenium In Situ technologies were used to analyze 20 lung adenocarcinoma specimens covering various stages of cancer development – from early stage to invasive cancer.

The findings suggest invasiveness of cancer cells was most strongly influenced by their interactions with immune cells, regardless of the pathological subtype or genomic mutations they harbored. Once cancer cells were allowed to transverse the immune cell barrier, qualitative changes of the cellular expression program were invoked, which transformed the cancer phenotypes beyond the border. In the webinar, Dr. Suzuki will demonstrate that the changes can be more clearly represented by examining modulated transcriptional networks rather than focusing on individual genes.

Key learning objectives

• Understand how spatial mapping technologies, including high-resolution Xenium In Situ, have helped to uncover TME differences in various stages of lung cancer
• Explore gene expression program changes invoked in cancer cells after they traverse the immune cell border
• Learn about the advantages of describing cancer phenotypes using modulated transcriptional networks rather than describing individual gene alterations

Who should attend?

Researchers exploring spatial approaches for profiling tumor and disease microenvironments.

Certificate of attendance

All webinar participants can request a certificate of attendance, including a learning outcomes summary, for continuing education purposes.