Landmark Nature Publication Demonstrates the Power of the Fluidigm Hyperion Imaging System to Identify Novel Cellular Signatures That Correlate with Distinct Clinical Outcomes

Retrospective Clinical Study Uses Highly Multiplexed Imaging Mass Cytometry to Reveal Previously Unknown Features of the Tumor Microenvironment and Novel Breast Cancer Subgroups

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., Jan. 20, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Fluidigm Corporation (NASDAQ:FLDM), the global leader in high-multiplex single-scan tissue imaging, today announced that a new landmark study demonstrates the potential for Imaging Mass Cytometry (IMC) on the Hyperion Imaging System to transform tissue pathology by identifying cellular signatures within tissue microenvironments that correlate with clinical outcomes.

The innovative study suggests highly multiplexed spatial information at single-cell resolution has the potential to improve patient-specific treatment selection in the future. Researchers at the University of Zurich, University of Cambridge and University of Basel conducted the 352-patient study, results of which have been published today in Nature¹.

The Hyperion Imaging System is revolutionizing translational and clinical research by providing unprecedented visualization of complex cellular phenotypes and their relationships in the context of cancer, immuno-oncology and immune-mediated diseases. Using the dual capability to perform both mass cytometry and IMC, researchers can deeply profile a wide range of samples from blood to tissues, all on the same system.

“Single-cell analyses have shown that there is extensive variation between and within patients with cancer, but data from these analyses are not included in the current histopathology-based approaches to identifying cancer subtypes that form the basis for many clinical decisions,” said Bernd Bodenmiller, PhD, Director of the Department of Quantitative Biomedicine at the University of Zurich. “The results of our study demonstrate that highly multiplexed IMC provides a superior approach to identify single-cell signatures that correlate with clinical outcomes compared with current histology-based approaches. Our findings suggest that highly multiplexed multicellular spatial information is medically relevant and has the potential to improve precision medicine in the future.”

The published study used the Fluidigm Hyperion Imaging System to simultaneously quantify 35 biomarkers, generating 720 high-dimensional pathology images of tumor tissue from 352 patients with breast cancer for whom long-term survival data were available. Spatially resolved single-cell analysis identified the phenotypes and spatial organization of single cells within the tumor and in the surrounding microenvironment. This enabled deep characterization of breast cancer architecture at single-cell resolution.