That cancer is a multifaceted disease is likely not a surprise to anyone, least of all the researchers who attended AACR last week in San Diego. Yet, many presentations this year acknowledged a deeper appreciation for the complexity of cancer. Cancer was presented as a systemic disease and the importance of studying how system-wide factors, including environmental and physiological parameters, impact tumor initiation and progression was stressed.
Other topics highlighted at the meeting were cellular plasticity and its role in metastasis as well as therapy resistance; brain-body interactions and the function of neurons in the tumor microenvironment; the discovery that bacteria are components of the tumor microenvironment; how age-related changes drive cancer progression; detection of minimal residual disease in solid tumors; advanced chemistries to tackle undruggable targets; and, not surprisingly, the use of AI to better understand cancer biology.
Behind the advances in many of these areas were sophisticated technologies like multiomics, spatial omics, organoids, advanced mouse models, and combinatorial biology.
Multiomics
Multiomic single-cell analysis, especially, is a powerful tool against cancer that researchers are currently using to investigate disease progression, tumor heterogeneity, TME organization, and responses to cancer therapies. It was repeatedly shown that multiomic methods can reveal novel insights on cell populations and sample heterogeneity.
Revvity was among tens of companies that showcased tools and technologies to streamline single-cell workflows at AACR. Solutions on display included TotalSeq Reagents and Multiomics Analysis Software.
Spatial technologies
In addition to a myriad of presentations that highlighted the use of spatial omics to provide insights into immune cell interactions, reveal immune archetypes, and divide the TME into “communities”, vendors like Akoya Biosciences and Canopy Biosciences held Spotlight Theatre presentations to share spatial biology applications as well as technological advances.
In the Akoya event, focused on “Spatial Insights and Precision Medicine at Unprecedented Scale” researchers from Bristol Myers Squibb and The University of Queensland discussed how Akoya technologies are being used in their research for ultrahigh-plex discoveries and actionable signatures.
Researchers from Stanford and Baylor headlined the Canopy event that covered the spatial relationships underlying heterogeneous cell migrations and deciphering the role of lipocalin-2 in promoting breast cancer metastasis.
Model systems
Many presentations also stressed the importance of advanced model systems, including mouse and organoid, to improve our understanding of this complex disease and accelerate the development of more effective cancer therapies.
Corning held a Spotlight Theater Tutorial on “Amping Up Your Predictive Power: How Organoid Models Are Leading the Way in Colon and Pancreatic Cancer Precision Medicine Approaches,” with speakers from UC Berkeley, the Salk Institute and Corning. Topics covered included tips on generating spheroids and organoids in mass quantities, how CRISPR editing organoids enables high-fidelity in vitro models of solid tumors, and the use of patient-derived organoids to predict patient response.
Jackson Laboratory had a dozen presentations and posters covering the use of their mouse models to advance cancer research, including one poster that also incorporated multimodal single-cell and spatial transcriptomics with generative AI.
Thermo Fisher Scientific showcased its new Gibco OncoPro Tumoroid Culture Medium at the meeting. The OncoPro medium simplifies the culture of patient-derived cancer organoids. It was developed to support expansion of tumoroids without overgrowth of non-malignant cells, and its use helps preserve donor-specific characteristics, according to the company.
Combinatorial biology
Combinatorial biology has come a long way since it was first developed over 40 years ago. With advances in DNA cloning, parallel synthesis, and automated screening technologies, it is a powerful drug discovery tool. Among the scientists describing the use of combinatorial biology approaches at AACR was a team from Memorial Sloan Kettering that used the technology to better understand the 3D architecture of the genome and its disruption in cancer cells.
Minimal residual disease
Minimal residual disease (MRD) monitoring and detection was highlighted in a handful of posters and presentations that looked at the different detection strategies currently available as well as challenges and opportunities. Adela, which uses a proprietary genome-wide methylome enrichment technology to detect MRD, presented initial results demonstrating the ability of its MRD assay to predict recurrence in head & neck cancer at the meeting. Personalis, which offers a highly sensitive personalized MRD test designed to detect recurrence early as well as monitor cancer evolution, presented on the abilty of its ctDNA detection test to predict response to immune checkpoint inhibition in advanced melanoma patients as well as had several posters on its NeXT Personal® whole genome-based, tumor-informed assay.
Artificial intelligence
AI is already transforming cancer research and has significant potential to help unravel the complexity of cancer. Whether you were in the exhibit hall or attending a presentation, AI was inevitably mentioned as a way to streamline workflows, transform drug discovery and development, gain deeper insights in your research, etc. While the excitement surrounding the use of AI in cancer research was justified, so was the trepidation with some presenters wondering if the technologies being used now will be outdated next year as well as warning about the need for careful oversight due to hallucinations.