Tejas Thiyagarajan
Pronouns: he/him
Research Mentor(s): Marisa Aikins
Research Mentor School/College/Department: Internal Medicine / Medicine
Program:
Authors: Tejas Thiyagarajan, Marisa Aikins, Sofia Merajver
Session: Session 5: 2:40 pm – 3:30 pm
Poster: 69
Abstract
Lung cancer is one of the leading causes of tumor-related deaths worldwide. Anaplastic Lymphoma Kinase driven non-small cell lung cancer (ALK+ NSCLC) makes up about 4 to 5% of non-small-cell lung cancers and the patients tend to be younger and have never smoked. ALK+ refers to a chromosomal translocation of an ALK fusion gene that leads to the production of EML4-ALK oncoproteins. Many treatments are available to patients with ALK+ lung cancer including the primary option of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) as well as chemotherapy, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, and surgery. In our study, we more specifically focus on immunotherapies and how we can enable immune cells to infiltrate tumors and kill cancer cells without damaging the body. This can be especially tricky because cancerous cells often develop mutations that protect against the immune system and other therapies making it difficult to treat. One step towards developing effective therapies is understanding how immune cells infiltrate tumors and spatially localize in response to immunotherapies, the primary focus of this study. To accomplish this, we have developed a method to image whole in-vitro tumor spheroids using different fluorescent stains for immune and tumor cells. Then, through the adaptation and modification of a tomography program written in Python by Dr. Ryan Oliver for a Blood Brain Barrier Project, we can analyze the z-stack images, thus, allowing us to evaluate the ability of different drug therapies to facilitate immune infiltration into large and dense tumor spheroids.
