Characterizing the Immune Cells of a Tumor Microenvironment

As a physician and associate professor at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, Dr. Akil Merchant examines the response of immune cells surrounding cancerous cells within a tumor. To better characterize the immune cells in the tumor microenvironment, in addition to traditional immunohistochemistry, Merchant uses Imaging Mass Cytometry™ enabled by the Hyperion Imaging System, to obtain spatial information from the simultaneous analysis of a large number of protein markers. By studying the immune response to cancer, Merchant hopes to identify mechanisms of resistance to current immuno-oncology therapies.