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Watch On-Demand: Optimizing Melanoma Therapy by AI-Enhanced Digital Pathology and Molecular Profiling
György Marko-Varga, Ph.D.
Professor and Head of Div. Clinical Protein Science & Imaging, Lund University
Lund University’s Gyorgy Marko-Várga presented a landmark FFPE proteomics melanoma evolution study built on a biobank of more than 650,000 tumor blocks and a global collaboration with NIH’s Cancer Moonshot program. Using a Covaris-based desolubilization workflow capable of processing samples in 96-well, high-throughput format, the team profiled four melanoma subtypes across 1,000 samples, generating 6,000 to 8,000 quantified proteins per sample with reproducibility within 20% relative standard deviation.
The presentation’s centerpiece traces a single individual, “Alpha,” through four cancer events and metastases sampled across hospitals in Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, and the UK. This FFPE proteomics melanoma evolution analysis revealed progressive mitochondrial activation, suppressed immune defense, and a late-stage shift to TGF-beta signaling as the tumor evolved, along with the discovery of dense glycoprotein barriers that block immune cell and drug penetration. The findings point toward combinational treatment strategies capable of solubilizing these barriers, with the full workflow and findings slated for upcoming publication.