The Meeting Point

by Megan Hopkins, OICR

Bladder cancer is the 5th most common cancer in Canada, often presenting with invasion of the tumor into the muscle of bladder. Clinical trials suggest an approximately 50% 5-year survival for this condition with standard of care treatment being surgical removal of the whole bladder paired with chemotherapy. However, there remains a large population of patients who are either ineligible or refuse chemotherapy due to the undesirable side effects highlighting an unmet need to develop therapeutic approaches that are both better tolerated and more effective. The image provided is from the Window-of-Opportunity clinical trial RADIANT and shows an example of the response of tumor cells (in green) and immune cells (in red) to a combination of immunotherapy and radiotherapy as a potential alternative to chemotherapy in bladder cancer.

Artist statement

Crimson waves crash against a shore of green, where tumor and immunity collide in vibrant tide – an eternal struggle, alive with movement yet suspended in stillness.

Tools and techniques used

We used the GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiler from Bruker Spatial Systems (GeoMx DSP) to image a slide of resected bladder cancer stained with fluorescent antibodies to identify tumor and immune cells. The image is zoomed in to a 100-micron section and rotated 90 degrees.

Credits

Megan Hopkins, Research Associate I, OICR
Melanie Spears, Co-Director Diagnostic Development and Principal Research Scientist and Co-Lead Window of Opportunity Network, Assistant Professor, Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, OICR

InterConnections is supported by Illumina