UCSF Custom Discovery

Welcome

This page will help introduce this program for patients and clinicians who are interested in exploring cutting edge profiling of their tumor for the purpose of accessing novel and cutting-edge therapies. Typically, projects with ImmunoX/Immunoprofiler are best set up together with clinicians who can help ensure optimal sample preparation so we all get the best data.

The program

Recognizing that the immune system is the source of emerging opportunities in the treatment of cancers, the Immunoprofiler/ImmunoX have leveraged our analytical immunoprofiling platform for custom analyses. The methods we use are identical to what we have done for our large cohorts (see video) and include the high-dimensional DNA and RNA sequencing of a tumor’s complete composition—learning about the programs that are active in every cell in the tumor. This means both the tumor cells themselves as well as the immune system that inadvertently may be supporting it. Our assays include a large CITE-seq panel that allows us to call out vulnerabilities and clinically-actionable targets. In some cases, this information is useful for appropriating existing drugs for a patient’s specific tumor. In addition, this high dimensional data permits us (or can be outsourced to small companies) to develop custom therapies and vaccines.

What to Expect

Our team works cross-functionally to deliver the most innovative discovery approaches in the field. This involves close collaboration between the patient, immunologists, biostaticians, pathologists, as well as project managers. Work proceeds on two main threads with both rapid (1-3 days) and deeper (4-8 week) dives to profile a tumor. We run a panel of different assays (experimental protocols) on both your blood, normal and tumor tissue to study what goes on at the basic molecular and cellular level to identify patterns and liabilities. In some cases, this identifies the existing drugs that match this biology. Additional and important discoveries may point to a completely new therapy (not on the market). We are always open to have you share any results with your care team and additional advisors or scientific collaborators. As part of our process, we maintain some of each tumor frozen, that can be later be reanimated for you or us to test prospective therapies to maximize the chances of success.

How to Get Involved

We welcome any inquires and interest and we would like to consider this a collaboration to learn together how to treat an individual tumor as well as better paths to treat all cancers. A broad view of what it will look like to participate in our study: For further information, please contact Nora Hazenbos at nora.hazenbos@ucsf.edu.