Leveraging single-cell and spatial omics for brain tumour insights to improve therapeutic strategies

Single-cell and spatial omics (SPOs) technologies have advanced how healthcare physicians characterise brain tumours by enabling detailed understanding of their cellular architecture, functional states, and microenvironmental dynamics. These approaches provide high-resolution detection of tumour heterogeneity and allow precise analysis of the brain tumour microenvironment. Their application has also led to the discovery of novel biomarkers used for early brain tumour detection, prognosis, and improved tumour stratification. Furthermore, integrative multi-omic analyses have revealed new therapeutic targets, clarified mechanisms of drug resistance, and uncovered molecular pathways underpinning treatment failure. By bridging cellular-level insights with spatial context, SPOs hold significant promise for advancing personalised diagnostics, predicting therapeutic response, and guiding the development of targeted interventions for brain tumours. Despite these advances, several limitations constrain the full translational potential of SPOs, including high experimental costs, substantial computational demands, lack of standardised protocols, and challenges in data integration and reproducibility. Addressing these barriers through scalable bioinformatic pipelines, consensus experimental frameworks, and cost-effective platforms remains critical for broadening accessibility and enabling clinical adoption.