Related Experiment Video

Updated: Aug 6, 2026

Assessing Tumor Microenvironment of Metastasis Doorway-Mediated Vascular Permeability Associated with Cancer Cell Dissemination using Intravital Imaging and Fixed Tissue Analysis
09:42

Assessing Tumor Microenvironment of Metastasis Doorway-Mediated Vascular Permeability Associated with Cancer Cell Dissemination using Intravital Imaging and Fixed Tissue Analysis

Published on: June 26, 2019

From vascular normalization to VEGF-independent escape: multi-omics-defined angio-immune ecosystem states

Baolai Li1, Haitao Song1, Yongmei Dai1

  • 1Department of Obstetrics, Qingdao Hospital, University of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences (Qingdao Municipal Hospital), Qingdao, Shandong, China.

Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology
|July 23, 2026
PubMed

Insights

Tumor resistance to anti-angiogenic therapy and immune checkpoint blockade involves complex angio-immune ecosystem states. Understanding these states is key to developing effective, long-term cancer treatments.

Area of Science:

  • Oncology
  • Immunology
  • Cancer Biology

Background:

  • Anti-angiogenic therapy and immune checkpoint blockade are crucial cancer treatments.
  • Therapeutic benefits are often transient, suggesting resistance mechanisms.
  • Resistance may stem from ecosystem-level tumor microenvironment reprogramming.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To define and characterize angio-immune ecosystem states associated with therapeutic resistance.
  • To identify specific configurations of vascular, immune, and spatial factors.
  • To develop a framework for stratifying patients and tracking resistance longitudinally.

Main Methods:

  • Integration of bulk transcriptional modules.
  • Application of single-cell-anchored cell-state programs.
  • Analysis of spatial neighborhood features.

Main Results:

  • Identified four resistance-associated angio-immune ecosystem states.
  • These states involve endothelial-stromal gatekeeping, limited normalization windows, hypoxia/myeloid-driven immunosuppression, and VEGF-independent perfusion escape.
  • Linked resistance to specific spatial configurations within the tumor microenvironment.

Conclusions:

  • Angio-immune ecosystem states provide a framework for understanding transient therapeutic benefits.
  • This framework enables state-matched combination therapies.
  • Linking resistance to spatial configurations can guide treatment strategies.
Keywords:
Immune exclusionVascular normalizationVasculogenic mimicryVessel co-optionmyeloid immunosuppression

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