Shenzhen, 22(nd) September, 2022 –  A new melanoma research led by Professor Chris Marine at the Centre for Cancer Biology, VIB (Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie), was published in the September issue of Nature. Combining single-cell RNA sequencing, lineage tracing, and spatial transcriptomics technologies (Stereo-seq), researchers investigated the spatiotemporally resolved cellular hierarchy in melanoma progression and metastasis.

Melanoma makes up to 1% of all skin cancers, but it is the deadliest, causing a large portion of skin cancer-related deaths.([1]) At present, the development of drugs and treatments for this disease remains challenging due to a lack of understanding of the spatiotemporally resolved tumour microenvironment.

A research team led by Professor Chris Marine at the Centre for Cancer Biology, VIB, utilized spatial transcriptomics technologies – including STOmics’ Stereoseq technology –to investigate the cellular hierarchy in mouse melanoma and deconvoluted the vascularized tumour microenvironment.

Their research provides a paradigm to study cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying tumour growth and metastatic dissemination, providing insights into the development of potential early tumour detection methods and therapeutic strategies that can interfere with the tumour spreading.