Itay Tirosh

Congratulations to Itay Tirosh, Zuckerman Faculty Scholar at  Weizmann Institute of Science, on presenting a poster at the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting in San Diego in April, and published in Cancer Research Annual Meeting Proceedings.

Dr. Tirosh’s research focuses on tumor cell diversity and spatial technologies in cancer analysis for a deeper understanding of tumor ecosystems.  Single cell studies have shown that some head and neck tumors contain malignant cells in a partial epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition state linked to invasion, but how this state is organized across the tumor has been unclear. Using spatial transcriptomics across HPV-positive and HPV-negative tumors, Dr. Tirosh and his team identified two distinct spatial architectures that help clarify how local tumor microenvironments shape invasive programs and point to distinct drivers that may require different therapeutic strategies.

Abstract:
Single-cell RNA sequencing has revealed diverse malignant programs in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC), including partial epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (p-EMT), a state linked to invasion and poor outcome. However, how p-EMT is spatially organized within tumors and shaped by the tumor microenvironment remains unclear.