Immune checkpoint inhibitors have emerged as an effective treatment for various cancer types. Anti-PD-1/PD-L1 immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy provides a durable effect when given to patients likely to respond, however, identifying these patients remains a challenge. Therefore, focusing on developing a consistently predictive biomarker to guide patient selection for highly targeted checkpoint inhibitor therapies is key.

In this webinar, Dr. Arutha Kulasinghe, NHMRC Research Fellow and Clinical-oMx Group Leader at the Frazer Institute, University of Queensland, will discuss how single-cell multiomic spatial phenotyping is an invaluable tool to characterize the tumor microenvironment using unbiased whole-slide imaging of metastatic/recurrent HNSCC tumors among patients treated with pembrolizumab/nivolumab. He will also explain how using these techniques, his team were able to identify stromal, immune, and metabolic tissue signatures associated with resistance to immunotherapy and poor overall survival.