: How has research in cancer immunotherapy changed in the past decade and how have the technological developments contributed to this evolution?
DF: The initial approvals of Immune checkpoint and adoptive CAR T cell therapies have fundamentally shifted cancer research from predominantly its molecular basis to the to the cellular nature of the immune system. Both the rationale and early successes are too compelling to ignore. Targeting a cellular network has sparked innovation in live cell analysis, cell engineering and manufacturing to support new modalities of gene and cell therapies targeting immune networks.
: What are some of the biggest hurdles/challenges facing researchers in this field and do you think they are being adequately addressed?
DF: The immune system is comprised of multiple cell lineages with non-overlapping function that are heavily influenced by the tumor microenvironment. There is a significant gap in the tools to model the tumor microenvironment and an evolving immune response. Advances in live cell, kinetic and label free assays are providing more relevant model systems to both mimic in vivo conditions and test immune targeting strategies. The knowledge obtained from these early translational studies are rapidly translating into novel preclinical and clinical studies.
: Are there technological solutions that are currently being developed that you are excited about?
DF: Advances in combining live cell imaging with kinetic assays that enable researchers to follow the biology over days instead of a single timepoint are providing richer and more decisive information to validate novel immunotherapy approaches.
: What are some of the new trends that you are seeing in this field? Will existing technology keep up with those trends?
DF: The ability to measure complex mixtures of cell types that better represent and reflect their native state and by which pathogenic processes evolve and become malignant. The answers will likely be a combination of imaging, measurement multiplexing and creating more relevant environmental conditions. Many vendors are now working closely with researchers to bring these multiple components together with an affordable, effective and singular user workflow.
: Are there gaps in current technology offerings for cancer immunotherapy? How do they relate to lack of instrumentation, technical know-how, data deluge, translational issues?
DF: The gap is the ability to measure and assess the heterogeneity of both tumor and immune cell evolution to better dissect and identify points of intervention. This is critical since the pathogenic process is constantly changing and evolving over several decades in most cancers.
: As a technology/service provider how are you impacting the progress in this field? What can you do more/better and what will help to make this happen?
DF: Immunotherapies and their strategies were birthed in academia and to a large degree the research community is still a key driver of this burgeoning field. We have found that partnering early with leading researchers, many of whom are in academia, to provide and in many cases co-develop the tools they need to effectively target immunity is accelerating discovery and translation of immunotherapies.
: If you could change one thing to drive progress in this field what would that be?
DF: The ability to better dissect and understand the dynamic nature of the tumor microenvironment. This will require better approaches to reference individual cells and their function across and in the various compartments of the tumor microenvironment. Testing strategies in these more relevant settings will likely translate with higher fidelity and increase our understanding of how tumors evolve and how best and where to intervene.