2. Expression profiling of tumor samples from melanoma patients
Using the microarray technology, we have established the gene expression profile of a series of tumor samples, mainly cutaneous metastases, obtained from melanoma patients, usually before the vaccine treatment was started. It is expected that a comparative analysis between samples from patients who experienced either tumor regressions or no regression at all will help us to identify genes whose expression is predictive of tumor response to cancer vaccines. Such genes might provide clues on the mechanisms by which tumors can resist destruction by immune cells.
We also use the microarray data to characterize the inflammatory events that take place inside those metastases, and to understand the interaction between the tumor cells and the inflammatory cells at the tumor site. This approach is combined with systematic immunohistological analysis of adjacent cryosections, using antibodies directed against tumor cells, T and B cells, macrophages, blood vessels, and various molecules involved in inflammatory reactions.
Cryosections obtained from a cutaneous melanoma metastasis were stained with antibodies directed against either melanoma cells (left), T lymphocytes (middle) and macrophages (right), and counterstained with hematoxylin. The corresponding cells appear in red. These images show clearly that the inflammatory cells do not infiltrate, but rather surround the tumor mass.
To know more... (pdf chapter of the last de Duve Institute report)
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