Cancer progression and resistance to therapy are influenced not only by cancer cells themselves, but also by the complex environment that surrounds them.

Tumor tissues comprise not only malignant cells but also a diverse array of normal cells and non-cellular components. Cancer cells interact with and manipulate these surrounding elements to support their growth and to evade immune responses and therapeutic agents. This complex and dynamic system, known as the tumor microenvironment (TME), plays a crucial role in cancer progression and treatment outcomes.

Professor Keisuke Nimura of the Gunma University Initiative for Advanced Research(GIAR) seeks to establish analytical methods for understanding multifactor interactions occurring both within and between cells in the TME. Using the Interaction Between Molecules (IBM)-seq method he developed, his research aims to characterize these interactions as network structures.

A central focus of this work is capturing these interactions both spatially and temporally;

temporal analysis has already been successfully achieved.

This innovative approach to evaluating the tumor microenvironment holds promise for advancing the development of more effective cancer therapies.