Oral Presentation Australasian Cytometry Society 41st Annual Conference

Perspectives on long-term CyTOF projects (24256)

Evan F Lind 1
  1. Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OREGON, United States

Our research program focuses on tumor cell-immune interactions in hematological malignancies specifically myeloid leukemia (AML).  AML is disease striking older patients predominantly, with a mean onset in mid 60’s.  Despite decades of research into cytotoxic chemotherapies the prognosis for this type of cancer is poor, with a mean survival of less than 30% at 5 years.  We are performing an in-depth analysis of the immune microenvironment in the bone marrow (tumor niche) of patients with AML.  This involves both functional testing of T cells and high parameter mass-cytometry (CyTOF).  CyTOF allows us to simultaneously measure 35 proteins associated with single cells in complex samples.  We are working with bioinformatics researchers do develop methods to interpret the large amounts of data generated from this type of measurement technology.  We are also developing a mouse model of leukemia that recapitulates the mutational profile that is seen in about 10% of AML patients.  This mouse has been genetically modified to contain both a proliferative mutation (FLT3-ITD) and a mutation resulting in epigenetic dysregulation (TET2) at the level of DNA methylation.  This combination allows us to test, combination therapies based on small molecule TKIs, epigenetic modifiers and immune therapies in vivo.  The ultimate goal of the Lind lab is to understand how hematological malignancies avoid immune detection and to target those pathways for clinical application in diseases such as AML.