Tumors evolve under the constraints of their environment. Various healthy cells in the tumor surroundings arrange themselves and interact with each other in coordinated ways. Depending on the cell types and their position, the tumor environment can suppress or promote tumor spread over the disease course.The goal of this project is to understand the dialogue between the tumor and its environment and how it changes from early to end stage. To do so, advanced imaging techniques will be applied in a cohort of patients enrolled in the TRACERx prospective study and the PEACE research autopsy program. The aim is to identify the environmental factors that enable cancer cells to spread and adapt to a new environment. Along the migration routes of the tumor, we will chart the spatial architecture at different organ sites and with respect to the administered therapies.
published research
Magness A, Colliver E, Enfield KSS, Lee C, Shimato M, Daly E, Moore DA, Sivakumar M, Valand K, Levi D, Hiley CT, Hobson PS, van Maldegem F, Reading JL, Quezada SA, Downward J, Sahai E, Swanton C, Angelova M. Deep cell phenotyping and spatial analysis of multiplexed imaging with TRACERx-PHLEX. Nat Commun. 2024.