Biomarkers of the Tumor Microenvironment (2^nd Ed., 2nd ed. 2022)

This book reviews different aspects of the cancer microenvironment, and its regulation and importance for tumor progression. Methodological advancements and practical applications, in terms of how biomarkers are studied and increasingly included in clinical trials and therapy protocols, are described and discussed.

Biomarkers of the Tumor Microenvironment is an educational resource for students and members of the cancer research community as a whole, especially for those using morphology analysis techniques and models focusing on the cross-talk between different cell types in tumors. The textbook provides a comprehensive overview of the microenvironment in various contexts from the perspectives of experienced and accomplished cancer researchers and clinicians.

Foreword.- Preface.- Prologue.-  Basic Studies: Tumor Mechanisms and Tissue Biomarkers.- The Role of the Tumor Microenvironment in Regulating Angiogenesis.- Vessel co-option in melanoma.- Tissue Based Biomarkers of Tumor-Vascular Interactions.- Molecular phenotypes of endothelial cells in malignant tumors.- Lymphatics in malignant tumors.- Role of the Extracellular Matrix in Tumor Stroma – Barrier or Support?.- Importance of tissue architecture in cancer development and progression.- The Tumor Microenvironment as a Target for Therapeutic Modulation and Monitoring.- Tumor-fibroblast interactions.- Stromal PDGF Receptors as Prognostic and Predictive Biomarkers.- Inflammation and Cancer, the Role of Lipid Signalling in the Continuum Between Two Ends of the Tumor Spectrum.- Cancer Immunity and Immune Evasion Mechanisms.- Drivers of EMT and Immune Evasion.- Inflammatory Biomarkers for Cancer.- Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes: Methods and Guidelines.- The Role of Platelets in the Tumor Microenvironment.- Regulation of Tumor Progression and Metastasis by Bone Marrow-Derived Microenvironments.- Neuropilin 1 and Neuropilin 2: Cancer Progression and Biomarker Analysis .- The Role of Axl Receptor Tyrosine Kinase in Tumor Cell Plasticity and Therapy Resistance.- Imaging mass cytometry in studies of the tumor microenvironment.- Artificial intelligence in studies of malignant tumors.- Clinical Applications: Organ Related Biomarker Studies.- Gene Expression Signatures of the Tumor Microenvironment: Relation to Tumor Progress in Breast Cancer.- MR-Derived Biomarkers for Cancer Characterization.- PDX-models and small animal imaging in studies of gynecologic cancers.- The Influence of Tissue Architecture on Drug Response: Anti-Cancer Drug Development in High-Dimensional Combinatorial Microenvironment Platforms.- Models of Tumor Progression in Prostate Cancer.- Prostate biomarkers.- Immune responses in lung cancer.- Tumor-vascular interactions in non-small cell lung cancer.- Tumor-Host Interactions in Malignant Glioma.- The Tumor Microenvironment in Cutaneous Melanoma – Friend or Foe?.- Biomarker Panels and Contemporary Practice in Clinical Trials of Targeted Therapy.

Lars A. Akslen is a professor of medicine (tumor pathology) at the University of Bergen (Bergen, Norway), a senior consultant in surgical pathology at Haukeland University Hospital, and a director of the Centre for Cancer Biomarkers CCBIO, a Norwegian Center of Excellence. Dr. Akslen is working on biomarkers of the tumor microenvironment and how these can be defined and reported on tissue specimens from human cancers, in particular breast tumors. Angiogenesis and immune responses represent the main areas of interest.

Randolph S. Watnick is a trained molecular biologist and is currently a research associate at the Vascular Biology Program, Boston Children´s Hospital (Boston, USA), and an assistant professor at the Department of Surgery, Harvard Medical School. After receiving his Ph.D., Dr. Watnick continued his training as a post-doctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Robert Weinberg at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. Dr. Watnick is now working on mechanisms of how the tumor microenvironment promotes cancer progression, with particular focus on roles of the immune system and vascular structures.

Covers basic model studies of novel biomarkers and treatment targets of the microenvironment

Explores a variety of different classes of biomarkers in human tumors

Features new chapters covering the use of artificial intelligence and imaging mass cytometry

Contains mechanisitic data and information on the latest studies of human tumor tissue