High-resolution macro study reveals new strategies to fight cancer

Several articles published in Nature They analyze the very initial stages of tumor formation, even before its appearance. Similarly, another group of work focused on the internal structures of several types of tumors, including breast, colon, pancreas, liver, kidney and uterus, obtaining three-dimensional images for the first time.

Overall, “the complete collection of papers published today in multiple journals will represent a major milestone in cancer research. In general, one covers the first events that lead to the shift, and the other focuses on how the tumor progresses towards initiation and metastasis,” he explains to SINC. Angela NietoProfessor of Research at the Institute of Neurosciences of Alicante and coordinator of Conexión Cancer-CSIC, a research network that brings together CSIC centers where research is carried out on this common disease.

Nieto, who was awarded the Santiago Ramón y Cajal National Research Prize in 2019 precisely for her pioneering work in the study of epithelial-mesenchymal transition, a biological process that transcends the understanding of the origin of cancer and the formation of metastases, explains the enormous importance of the two approaches to work.

In both cases, he notes, the key was the use of very high resolution, allowing very accurate information many tumor cells and the differences between them.

The key has been the use of very high resolution, which allows for very precise information about many tumor cells and the differences between them.

Angela Nieto
— Research Professor at the Institute of Neurosciences of Alicante

“On the one hand, a group of works devoted to the earliest events, even before the appearance of a tumor, will allow us to make a diagnosis much earlier and even think about cancer prevention, which is something extraordinary. Another group of works managed to create three-dimensional maps that make it possible to analyze the evolution of the tumor,” he emphasizes. Grandson.

Here’s how the main co-author defines the result Li Ding: “We can finally see what until now we could only infer tumor structures and its complexity.” Dean is a professor of medicine at the University of Washington, and her lab studies tumor genomes to figure out what drives cancer to develop.

“This different approach is the result of a huge multi-institution effort within the Human Tumor Atlas Network consortium. Analysis of the internal organization of different types of cancer in patients at very high resolution,” explains Nieto.

These detailed 3D maps reveal the internal structure of several tumor types, including breast, colon, pancreatic, liver, kidney and uterine tumors, based on samples from approximately 2,000 people, providing a comprehensive and unprecedented study of tumor architecture tumors in 3rd dimensions to be able to observe cellular interactions between tumor cells and the tumor microenvironment.

These detailed 3D maps show the internal structure of different types of tumors, including breast, colon, pancreatic, liver, kidney and uterine tumors, taken from samples from about two thousand people.

A significant portion of the group of papers published today in various Nature journals by members of the Human Tumor Atlas Network (HTAN) is funded by the US National Cancer Institute (NCI).

HTAN is a collaborative network of research centers and a central data clearinghouse that create three-dimensional atlases of the cellular, morphological and molecular characteristics of human cancer as it progresses from precancerous lesions to advanced disease.

“This Herculean efforts studies conducted on tumors of different types will form a database of colossal size. Essentially, it is descriptive data that teaches us what tumors are. The next step will be to check whether the numerous hypotheses arising from the knowledge of all this new data are confirmed, for which further research is needed,” explains Angela Nieto.

The secret life of tumors revealed

“Until now, we knew that tumors contain cancer cells, immune cells, and structural cells that sometimes protect cancer from chemotherapy (creating treatment resistance) and attacking the immune system, but now we can actually see those battle lines,” Dean explains, citing the 3D maps they created.

This 3D atlas literally allows you to see how tumor areas differ and how its behavior changes when it spreads to other organs, forming metastases. Or even your reaction in response to therapy.

This 3D atlas literally allows you to see how tumor areas differ and how its behavior changes when it spreads to other organs, forming metastases.

This study shows that tumors are organized into “regions” that make up tumor microenvironment The researchers explain that they have different mutations that drive their growth and likely require different treatment strategies.

According to the researchers, this will have implications in the fight against cancer because different specific treatments may be required to target key mutations in different areas of treatment.

According to an expert from the University of Washington, this three-dimensional vision could change the understanding of cancer today and improve its treatment in the future. Thus, we will face a “new era in cancer research.”

The work also provides insight into three-dimensional cancer metabolism, which will influence the effectiveness of current treatments and sometimes provide insight into why they are ineffective. “This will lead to the development of new cancer treatments. It’s truly transformative,” says another researcher.

They also found that certain areas of the tumor may have high immune cell activity, known as hot spots. The same tumor also has cold areas that have little or no immune activity.

Hot regions tend to respond well to immunotherapybut cold ones do not, which may help explain why some tumors initially respond well to immunotherapy and then develop resistance.

Metastasis

One of the articles published today is about the process that allows cancer to spread to other organs, metastasizing, in particular to Natural medicinewhose first author is Joanna Klaghammer of the Klarman Cell Observatory of the Broad Institute of Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

The researchers created a spatial and cellular map based on 67 tumor biopsies from patients with metastatic breast cancer and revealed differences in cellular composition and T cell infiltrationa class of white blood cells that is part of the immune system.

The researchers created a spatial and cellular map from 67 tumor biopsies from patients with metastatic breast cancer and identified differences in cellular composition and T-cell infiltration.

This is a very important aspect of the study, says Nieto, who was awarded the Santiago Ramón y Cajal National Research Prize in 2019 precisely for her pioneering work in the study of epithelial-mesenchymal transition, a biological process that transcends the understanding of cancer occurrence and the formation of metastases.

Just a couple of weeks ago a job appeared in Nature Cancerled by Nieto, who also analyzed the evolution of tumors towards metastasis, discovering anti- and pro-tumor responses.

Without a doubt, this line, which attempts to “limit” the spread of metastases, promises to combat cancer’s most powerful weapon – the colonization of organs other than those from which it originates.

Links: Mo, S. K., Liu, J., Chen, S. etc. Tumor evolution and microenvironment interaction in 2D and 3D space. Magazine Nature | DOI: 10.1038/s41586-024-08087-4. /// Klughammer J., Abravanel D.L., Segerstolpe O. etc. Multimodal single-cell and spatial expression map of metastatic breast cancer biopsies considering clinicopathological features. Natural medicine | DOI: 10.1038/s41591-024-03215-з. /// Yusef K.K., Narwade N., Arkas A. etc. Two distinct epithelial-mesenchymal transition programs control invasion and inflammation in distinct populations of tumor cells. Nature Cancer (2024) | DOI: 10.1038/s43018-024-00839-5.