Mapping the ‘neighborhood’ of cancer cells in the most common type of lung cancer, University of Queensland researchers have found that cellular metabolism plays a key role in determining how lung cancer patients respond to immunotherapy.
Associate Professor Alta Krasinghe From UQ fraser institute They said they used machine learning algorithms and computational approaches to examine cell interactions in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) at cellular resolution to better understand why some patients do not respond to immunotherapy treatment.
“Build on” the study “This study, which was published last year mapping lung cancer cells, looks at how cells interact to metabolize glucose, which is what we know cancer cells thrive on,” Dr. Krasinha said.
“We were able to delve deep into the complex nature of cells, essentially observing their private lives in the complex composition of tumors, and found that certain metabolic neighborhoods were associated with response and resistance to immunotherapy.
“Immunotherapy is very expensive, potentially costing governments more than $400,000 per patient per year, and is often effective in only about 20 to 30 percent of patients.
“It is important to understand how to identify these patients and those who may require combination or alternative therapies.”
Being able to predict whether cancer cells will respond to immunotherapy means doctors can provide more targeted treatment, potentially leading to improved outcomes for lung cancer, which kills around 20,000 people in Australia each year.
Researchers Rafael Tubereza, Dr. James Monkman, and Associate Professor Alta Crasinha stand in the lab looking at biopsy sections.
(Photo courtesy of the University of Queensland)
Lead author Dr. James Monkman said that by combining cutting-edge technology with the computer analysis used in the study, researchers were able to see how each cell processes glucose.
“We know that cancer cells like sugar, and we analyzed where glucose is processed in the cells and where it isn’t. One area of the tumor may be processing glucose in a completely different way than another area of the tumor,” Dr. Monkman said.
“Currently, we are beginning to understand how and where each cancer cell metabolizes sugar, and that increased glucose uptake into cancer cells leads to poor prognosis.
“The next step is to design targeted therapies to make immunotherapy more effective, such as with metabolic inhibitors.
“Our ultimate goal is precision medicine where we can profile every cell in a patient’s tumor and determine which drugs are needed based on the patient’s unique tumor profile.”
Associate Professor Krasinha hopes this research will be extended to other tumors, including head and neck cancers and some aggressive skin cancers.
The next stage of research will consider how this approach can be incorporated into clinical trials.
UQ’s Frazer Institute is based at the Translational Research Institute (TRI).
of the study Published in nature communications.
cooperation and gratitude
This research was conducted in an international collaboration involving the Wesley Institute, Yale School of Medicine, NucleAI, and Quanterix.