Unraveling the Tumor Microenvironment Using Custom mIF Panels & Spatial Tissue Analysis

Description A persistent challenge in the field of immunotherapy is the fact that only a minority of patients respond to treatment. This is especially true for therapies which rely on immune activation, such as checkpoint inhibitors, due to the complex and heterogeneous immune escape mechanisms which can develop in each patient. Therefore, the development of robust biomarkers, which enable rational patient selection and the design of precise combination therapies, is key for the continued success and improvement of cancer treatments. Multiplex immunofluorescence (mIF) has emerged to complement the conventional IHC by providing highly reproducible, efficient, quantitative, and standardized assays for the analysis of formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) tissue samples. The simultaneous antibody-based detection of multiple markers on a single tissue section can address the low tissue availability from precious and rare donors, establishing mIF as an important assay in the study of the tumor microenvironment and one which can help to maximize the opportunity for patients to benefit from personalized immunotherapies. To enable the transition of mIF assays into clinical applications, a flexible, easy- to- use, and reproducible assay is needed to identify predictive biomarkers. Multiplex immunofluorescence gives researchers the opportunity to study the spatial relationships in the tumor microenvironment, providing access to a wealth of data and information about its immune contexture. The purpose of this presentation is to convey to scientists and pathologists the reasons why reproducible assays are essential for biomarker discovery during clinical trials, how multiplex mIF assays are a great tool for immune profiling the tumor microenvironment, and how spatial tissue analysis can help to make data-driven decisions.