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Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths worldwide. While early-stage lung cancer can often be treated with radical surgical interventions or chemotherapy, over 70% of patients experience recurrences, primarily due to the spread of the cancer to other parts of the body. Additionally, most patients with advanced lung cancer die within 18 months of diagnosis. Recent clinical trials show that immunotherapies targeting the immune system against cancer have achieved impressive results in some cases. However, only a fraction of patients achieve long-term, stable disease remission. Prof. Dr. Rajkumar Savai, leads the ILH research group "Lung Microenvironmental Niche in Cancerogenesis" and is also scientific coordinator of the DZL Lung Cancer Disease Area, provides expert insights in a recent article in the prestigious journal Nature on the topic of spatial tumor analysis.
In the Nature article, Prof. Dr. Rajkumar Savai discusses the latest developments in tumor mapping and their relevance for improving cancer treatments. He highlights the challenges in applying targeted immunotherapies for lung cancer. These new treatments have the potential to activate the patient’s immune system to specifically attack cancer cells. However, only about 20% of patients currently show a positive response to these immunotherapies.
In his contribution, Savai outlines the advantages of advanced technologies such as multiplex immunohistochemistry (mIHC) and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI). These methods allow for precise analysis of the spatial distribution and density of immune cells within tumor tissue. By combining mIHC and MALDI, more than 100 targeted protein biomarkers can be measured simultaneously, enabling a more comprehensive analysis of interactions between tumor and immune cells. This could be crucial in understanding the causes of resistance to immunotherapies and developing targeted, personalized treatment approaches.
Savai and his team are currently using MALDI technology to investigate how tumors release substances that cause the immune system to halt its fight against cancer. This research is set to be published soon.
Rajkumar Savai is a professor at the Institute for Lung Research (ILH) at Justus Liebig University in Giessen, where he leads the research group "Lung Microenvironmental Niche in Cancerogenesis." Additionally, he heads the Oncology Basic Research Unit at the Medical Clinic V of the University Hospital Giessen and Marburg. He is also a group leader at the Department of Lung Development and Remodeling at the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research in Bad Nauheim.
Prof. Dr. Rajkumar Savai
Photo: JLU / Rolf K. Wegst
