Tumor Cell Heterogeneity & Immune Response

Cancer cell biology is highly complex, comprising multiple cell types in different metabolic states, and is spatially heterogeneous. Over the last 10 years, our GE Research multi-disciplinary team has developed a multiplexed imaging and cell level analytics technology that allows analysis of up to 60 protein biomarkers in every cell in a 5 um FFPE tissue section (Cell DIVE™). Using the biology information and spatial location of every cell, we can begin to ask questions about cell-to-cell interactions, relationships with immune cells, and why certain tumors progress or respond to therapy and others do not.

Using this platform, we are currently funded by the NIH, in collaboration with Indiana University, Singapore General Hospital and Oxford University to measure immune response to DCIS lesions in Caucasian, African American and Asian women (R01 CA194600). This will help shed light on correlations between lesion heterogeneity, immune cell characterization and differences by ethnicity. Using this cellular data we will build prediction models of disease recurrence in DCIS patients to delineate the characteristics of relapsing patients. We are also funded through the US, Ireland, Northern Ireland R&D Partnership program, which is in part funded by the NIH (R01 CA208179), to investigate tumor heterogeneity in colorectal cancer. This 5 year program involves systems biology modeling of apoptosis, and correlation with immune response and recurrence risk. This is in collaboration with Royal College of Surgeons Ireland, Queen’s University Belfast and MSKCC, NY. The success of these projects has relied upon a highly multidisciplinary team that has evolved with the technology and has pulled on our expertise in imaging, systems design, physics, chemistry, computer science, biology, statistics, and engineering.