PROOF OF CONCEPT

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a lethal malignancy, often diagnosed in advanced and inoperable stage. Diagnosis requires histologic confirmation, typically obtained through endoscopic ultrasound (EUS) and endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). These procedures are invasive and pose significant risks to patients. Recent discoveries in our lab have shown that shed cells from luminal washes carry information about their tissue of origin.

In cancer care, patients undergoing chemotherapy are required to manage their illness independently. Such management involves following the doctor's instructions and making critical decisions that affect their survival, such as reporting side effects or going to the emergency room. This research aimed to identify the types of knowledge patients need to manage their symptoms and side effects effectively.

Despite enormous effort invested in profiling gut microbiota metabolic activity and its relationship to the onset and progression of several cancer types, most microbial metabolic information is obtained from fecal samples that absent bioactive metabolites originating from bacterial populations in the small intestine.

Regulatory T cells (Tregs) are a critical component of solid tumors, contributing to an immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME). A comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms by which Tregs shape the TME and the factors influencing responses to Treg-targeted therapies remains elusive. Our research focuses on deciphering the complex interactions within the TME and understanding how Tregs influence its spatial organization. In this POC study, we aim to establish methodologies to uncover the intricate web of immune interactions within the TME.

The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a complex network of proteins and carbohydrates that plays an active role in influencing crucial aspects of cancer biology such as progression, invasion, and drug resistance. We recently established a spatial proteomics approach to map the cell states in glioblastoma at single-cell resolution. We now want to extend this platform to also comprehensively profile the composition and spatial patterns of the ECM.

Liquid biopsy is a promising non-invasive approach for early detection of cancer and monitoring disease progression and therapeutic response. We have recently developed a powerful and reliable method to isolate circulating small extracellular vesicles (sEVs) from plasma of breast cancer patients and showed that semi-quantitative proteomic profiling of sEVs can be used for early detection of breast cancer.