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The Tumor Microenvironment

The Tumor Microenvironment

Every normal cell or tissue is embedded in a complex local environment called stroma, consisting of different cell types, a basal membrane, and blood vessels. As normal cells mutate and develop into cancer cells, their local environment also changes to allow cancer progression. The tumor microenvironment (TME) consists of a complex cellular matrix of stromal cells and the developing tumor. The cross-talk between cancer cells and surrounding stromal cells is critical to disrupt normal tissue...

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Updated: Jan 9, 2026

Spatial Profiling of Protein and RNA Expression in Tissue: An Approach to Fine-Tune Virtual Microdissection

Spatial Profiling of Protein and RNA Expression in Tissue: An Approach to Fine-Tune Virtual Microdissection

Published on: July 6, 2022

Spatial omics: applications and utility in profiling the tumor microenvironment.

Ji-Eun See¹, Sarah Barlow^2,1, Wani Arjumand^2,1

¹Department of Developmental Neurobiology, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA.

Cancer Metastasis Reviews

|December 2, 2025

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Spatial omics technologies map gene expression in tissues, revolutionizing biomedical research. These spatial transcriptomics tools enhance cancer research by detailing the tumor microenvironment and guiding precision oncology.

Keywords:

Cancer research Precision medicine Spatial transcriptomics Tumor heterogeneity Tumor microenvironment Tumor-immune interactions

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Last Updated: Jan 9, 2026

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Published on: September 13, 2022

Area of Science:

Biomedical Research
Genomics
Cancer Biology

Background:

Spatial omics preserves tissue architecture, unlike bulk or single-cell sequencing.
This allows direct mapping of molecular data onto histological structures.
It offers unprecedented insights into gene and protein expression in situ.

Purpose of the Study:

To review the current state of spatial omics technologies.
To highlight their applications in cancer research.
To discuss future directions and clinical translation.

Main Methods:

Overview of spatial transcriptomics and related spatial omics techniques.
Analysis of applications in characterizing the tumor microenvironment (TME).
Discussion of technological advancements and challenges.

Main Results:

Spatial omics enables detailed characterization of TME heterogeneity and immune infiltration.
It reveals complex mechanisms of tumor progression and therapy resistance.
Spatial data provides crucial context for understanding cancer biology.

Conclusions:

Spatial omics is a transformative technology in biomedical research and cancer studies.
It plays a central role in advancing precision oncology.
Future developments aim to improve analytics, standardization, and cost-effectiveness for clinical use.