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Spatially Resolving the Tumor Microenvironment of Fibrolamellar Carcinoma

Principal Investigator: Praveen Sethupathy

Department of Biomedical Sciences
Sponsor: Fibrolamellar Cancer Foundation
Title: Spatially Resolving the Tumor Microenvironment of Fibrolamellar Carcinoma
Project Amount: $150,047
Project Period: March 2025 to February 2026

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant):

Fibrolamellar carcinoma (FLC) is an aggressive liver cancer with no effective therapeutic options. The environment surrounding FLC tumor cells undoubtedly contributes to cancer growth and/or spread, but is poorly characterized. Improved understanding of the tumor environment in FLC will help uncover important hidden features of this cancer and ultimately could open new and effective therapeutic avenues. To bridge the knowledge gap, we recently leveraged state-of-the-art genomic technology to capture the gene activity landscape of FLC at single-cell resolution for the first time. This allowed us to measure the shift in relative abundance of different cell types in FLC; determine the cell type specificity of established FLC marker genes and pathways; and infer patterns of inter-cellular communication. The study offers the highest-resolution molecular landscape of FLC to date. However, a major limitation is that the spatial location of different cell types was not preserved, which is critical for understanding how the tumor environment promotes FLC survival, growth, and spread. Spatial distribution of different cell types will shed important light on the cell-to-cell communication in FLC that may drive important cancer processes. For example, through our recent single-cell study, we uncovered specific possible connections between cell types that could mediate the ability of the cancer to suppress the immune system; however, it is unclear whether the cell types involved are located close enough to each other in physical space to actually communicate. Here we propose to carry out the first ever large-scale spatial analysis of FLC, as well as three other liver cancers for purposes of comparison. By spatially resolving the molecular landscape of FLC, we can address this limitation and uncover novel insights into tumor biology and progression, thereby revealing new and effective therapeutic strategies.