Quantitative Multiplex Assays for Pan-Cancer Immuno-Oncology | Kathleen Pfaff, PhD | Dana-Farber

Multiplex immunofluorescence (mIF) is a powerful way to quantify the immune cell densities within tumor samples, with a wide range of applications to improve our understanding of the biology of cancer, as well as to improve patient therapies. Could standard mIF assays make the technology even more accessible in the clinic? Principal scientist Kathleen Plaff talks about how the Tissue Biomarker Lab at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute uses Akoya technology and custom panels to image and analyze tissues, as well as the development of a six-marker pan-cancer panel, ImmunoProfile, to help simplify the process for researchers. She also discusses a collaborative effort to use a set of correlative assays across four institutions as part of a national NCI immunotherapy trial program (CIMAC).
0:01: Introduction: Working at the intersection of cancer biology and immunology
3:05 Early research into tissue-based biomarkers and immunotherapy
3:50 Key questions in immuno-oncology
5:45 The Tissue Biomarker Lab at the Dana Farber pan-cancer Center for Immuno-Oncology
9:35 Characterizing the tumor-immune microenvironment
13:15 Human tissue biopsy staining: Multiplex immunofluorescence (mIF)
14:00 Quantification of multiplex IF images
15:30: CIMAC - The Cancer Immune Monitoring and Analysis Centers
19:00 Toward a clinical mIF assay: ImmunoProfile
22:35 ImmunoProfile in action: Oral leukoplakia study
24:30 Conclusions