From cancer initiation to progression
Our team will acquire detailed images of the human and mouse tumour microenvironment, allowing us to define recurring NSCLC spatial signatures based on cellular communities. The tumour development is a constant battle, during which the immune system tries to clear the malignant cells, while the cancer escapes using immunomodulating tricks. It is therefore important to capture the temporal aspect of this tumour-host co-evolution, using patient material from all stages of the disease and mouse models to fill in the gaps. Subsequent experimental investigations aim to identify the key factors within those signatures by decipher their role in anti-tumour immunity and therapy resistance.
Placing the tumour microenvironment within the context of the host
Our team will integrate our newly acquired spatial and temporal signatures into a clinically relevant landscape. The first step will be to directly correlate the identified tumour microenvironment signatures with known medical risks factors, such as age, smoking, and exposure to environmental pollution. Secondly, we acknowledge that cancer is a systemic disease, by performing parallel analyses of blood and lymph node immunity.
Generating guidelines for the design of a predictive spatial signature test
Our impact board will advise on road towards the development of a predictive tool that will not only be of clinical use but also socially acceptable, unambiguous, affordable and broadly implementable across Europe’s clinical practice.
SPACETIME_EU Project 