CONGRESS 2023 - Spatial Transcriptomics: A novel tool to elucidate cell populations in non-melanoma skin cancers

Non-melanoma skin cancers (NMSC) are on the rise, with around 156,000 cases diagnosed annually in the United Kingdom. Basal cell carcinoma (BCC) is the most predominant form that is encountered, and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) accounts for 20% of all non-melanoma skin cancers. Although the vast majority of non-melanoma skin cancers have a good prognosis and can be cured by surgical intervention, they can cause the destruction of local tissue architecture due to tumour growth. Moreover, a small subset of tumours have poorer outcomes with metastases and mortality. The underlying biological mechanisms governing a higher risk of recurrence, metastasis, and death remain poorly understood due to a lack of accurate risk stratification. Risk prediction is important in the management of NMSC, as it informs which patients require imaging, how frequently imaging should be performed and how frequently patients should be reviewed. It also informs which patients will benefit from wider surgical resection, adjuvant radiotherapy or sentinel lymph node biopsy. In the future, there is a role for the use of adjuvant immunotherapy for patients with particularly high-risk tumours. This presentation aims to highlight the use of single-cell and spatial transcriptomics analysis approaches in comprehensively mapping the localisation of the different cellular subpopulations in non-melanoma skin cancers. The ultimate aim is to develop better diagnostic tools and markers to predict patient risk status, which will lead to better clinical outcomes.

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