High Dimensional Protein Characterization of Tumor Tissues and Relevance to Outcomes in Immunotherapy Clinical Trials

A tumor mass is made up of more than just the tumor cells. It also contains a variety of host cells, secreted factors and extracellular proteins that affect a tumor’s growth and response to treatment. All of these factors are collectively known as the tumour microenvironment. This collaborative project aims to examine the immune system and tumor microenvironment in pediatric brain tumor tissues, particularly in response to immunotherapy. To develop new immunotherapies, researchers must identify targets in the tumor cell that could be receptive to such treatments. Examination of the tumor microenvironment could lead to the identification of such targets. Researchers will use advanced approaches to examine tumor imagery and molecular data provided through the Pediatric Brain Tumor Atlas in the hope of advancing immunotherapy approaches for pediatric brain tumors.