WORLD-FIRST CANCER BREAKTHROUGH ALLOWS TESTING OF HUNDREDS OF CLUES IN A SINGLE BIOPSY

Doctors in Queensland have unveiled a world-first breakthrough that could transform how head and neck cancer is treated, enabling them to test hundreds of markers from a single hospital biopsy to guide personalised treatment plans.

Researchers at the Wesley Research Institute’s Queensland Spatial Biology Centre (QSBC) have developed a new approach that analyses hundreds of proteins and thousands of gene messages from just one tissue slide.

The study, published in Nature Precision Oncology, is described as the most significant discovery protein study of its kind in translational cancer research.

Led by Associate Professor Arutha Kulasinghe, the research examined tissue samples from 84 patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, which is the seventh most common cancer globally, with nearly 890,000 new cases diagnosed each year.

The study focused on the area around the tumour to identify predictive markers that show whether treatments such as immunotherapy, chemotherapy or radiotherapy are likely to work, or if the cancer might resist them.

“This is an important technological development for cancer research,” said Associate Professor Arutha Kulasinghe, Scientific Director of QSBC.

“We’ve shown for the first time that we can measure hundreds of clues from a single hospital biopsy to unlock the secrets of head and neck cancer. This lets doctors personalise treatments to give patients the best chance of beating cancer.”

The research also found links between the presence of specific immune cells near the tumour and improved outcomes for patients, including more extended periods without the cancer returning. It identified new potential drug targets for patients whose cancers don’t respond to existing treatments.

Associate Professor Kulasinghe explained, “We hope this will meaningfully change the lives of those with cancer and give them genuinely better treatment options and outcomes.

"By understanding each patient’s cancer in such detail, doctors will be able to offer treatments that work best for them. We’re thrilled to continue this work with our global partners.”

The international collaboration includes Bruker Spatial Biology, Abcam, the University of Queensland and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute.

The study used Bruker’s GeoMx Digital Spatial Profiler technology to measure 581 proteins and over 18,000 gene transcripts in a single-slide workflow. This approach revealed several key findings:

• Proteins like CD3e and Interferon-gamma in tumour regions were linked to improved immunotherapy response and longer recurrence-free survival, while CD34 was associated with poorer outcomes.

  
  

• Tumour locations such as the tongue versus the lip showed distinct protein profiles, with tongue tumours having higher EpCAM levels, indicating more aggressive disease.

  
  

• The distribution of immune cells, such as plasma cells (linked to better survival) and lymphovascular cells (poorer outcomes), influenced clinical outcomes.

  
  

• Novel therapeutic targets like EZH2 were identified for cases resistant to existing treatments.

  
  

• Protein-transcript comparisons highlighted markers such as CXCR5, detectable only at the protein level, showing the value of proteomic analysis.

  
  

• Findings were further validated using single-cell protein profiling via QSBC’s PhenoCycler-Fusion technology supplied by Akoya Biosciences.