The MOSA spatial atlas of cancer cells was also created
Owkin, NanoString Technologies and University of Pittsburgh cancer research institute Gustave Roussy, University Hospital Lausanne, Uniclinikum Erlangen/Friedrich-Alexander- Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, and Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin launch MOSAIC (Multi Omic Spatial Atlas In Cancer) in America Annual meeting Society of Clinical Oncology.
MOSAIC is a $50 million project to revolutionize cancer research through the use of spatial omics, a set of technologies that offer information about tumor structure.
Spatial omics allows researchers to examine tumors at near single-cell resolution, while uncovering the location and molecular activity of tumor and immune cells. This provides a detailed map of molecular interactions, allowing scientists to decipher the key relationships between tumors and their environment.
By generating and analyzing spatial omics data combined with multimodal patient data and artificial intelligence, MOSAIC aims to open the next wave of treatments for some of the most difficult-to-treat cancers.
A new field in oncology research
The first initiative of its kind to use spatial omics technology, Owkin said MOSAIC has the potential to open up new areas of oncology treatment research. Owkin will invest $50 million to build MOSAIC. It will use 7,000 tumor samples from patients, making it more than 100 times larger than existing spatial omics data sets. Owkin and MOSAIC partners will mine these resources for immune-oncological disease subtypes in the pursuit of new biomarkers and therapeutics.
Thomas Clozel, co-founder, and CEO of Owkin, said: “The convergence of spatial omics, multimodal patient data, and AI will drive the next revolution in oncology research, opening the next wave of breakthrough treatments for patients. MOSAIC will help us, and our partners, make unprecedented breakthroughs in the fight against cancer.”
Brad Gray, president and CEO of NanoString, said: “This project has the potential to transform our understanding of cancer biology and fuel the development of new diagnostics and therapeutics. This is an unprecedented collaboration, bringing together the powerful NanoString spatial biology platform, the highest quality clinically annotated cancer samples from leading cancer research centers, and Owkin’s outstanding AI technology and analytics.”
Robert Ferris, vice chancellor for cancer research and Hillman Professor of Oncology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and director of the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, said: “The University of Pittsburgh is very excited to be part of the MOSAIC consortium, which will leverage our UPMC Hillman Cancer Center’s spatial-omic expertise. in understanding cancer cells in their environment. We are excited to work with other universities and industry partners to uncover actionable insights for detecting, treating and preventing cancer.”
What is spatial omics?
Spatially resolved molecular profiling (also known as spatial omics), known as Method of the Year by Nature Methods, is a group of advanced technologies for measuring and localizing molecular expression that offers scientists views of tumor structure at single-cell resolution, revealing interactions between tumor and non-tumor cells.
By measuring expression of molecules and remapping them to their locations in tumor samples, spatial omics allows researchers to ‘zoom in’ on tumor heterogeneity, cell-cell communication, and tumor immune system interactions. This innovative approach is set to catalyze unprecedented scientific breakthroughs and change our fundamental understanding of disease mechanisms.
How MOSAIK works
Following analysis of patient data from research centers using NanoString spatial omics technology, combined with RNA-seq, proteomics, histology, and other medical data, Owkin will develop data platforms and use machine learning, including deep neural networks, to uncover new cancer biology and therapeutics. potential.
MOSAIC will initially focus on a variety of cancers with unmet medical needs, including non-small cell lung cancer, triple-negative breast cancer, diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, ovarian cancer, glioblastoma, mesothelioma, and bladder cancer. . After an initial research period, MOSAIC and its creation of standardized data and analytical methods will be accessible to the global biomedical community, further driving advances in oncology research.
The MOSAIC scale significantly surpasses existing spatial omics studies. The previous attempt was too small by double to induce a breakthrough. Currently, most studies involving this data modality are limited by sample size, typically less than 50. Instead, MOSAIC will analyze data from 7,000 patients, enabling scientists to conduct research on cohorts of data that are 100 times larger than currently possible.
