Case Study: OxyTarget

Objectives

The OxyTarget clinical trial was conducted at Akershus University Hospital (AUH). This study attempted to establish a reliable method for detection of rectal cancer patients with aggressive tumors at risk of metastatic disease and death using an experimental functional MRI procedure.

Blood samples were collected from 36 patients before undergoing neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy and, eventually, surgery. Oslo University Hospital (OUH) performed mass cytometry experiments to complement the results obtained by imaging. In this regard, traditional, manual analysis methods were not sufficient to handle the technique’s data volume or extract molecular insights efficiently, creating a clear need for an advanced analytical solution.

Akershus University Hospital (AUH) is a modern hospital in Norway known for its high-quality

healthcare services and commitment to medical research. In cancer research, AUH focuses on

improving early detection, personalized treatments, and patient care. Through collaboration with

universities and research institutions, Ahus contributes to advancements in oncology, enhancing

outcomes for patients and driving innovation in cancer diagnosis and therapy.

Solution

Cytofit provided a seamless, automated platform to handle the high-dimensional, cytometry data from the OxyTarget trial. Its ability to unify data cleaning, clustering, statistical evaluation, and visualization enabled AUH and OUH to analyze the relationship between cellular profiles and treatment outcomes with unprecedented efficiency. Key features utilized in OxyTarget:

Streamlined Preprocessing: Automated gating and quality control ensured the reliability of large datasets.
Advanced Clustering: Helped identify distinct cellular subpopulations associated with hypoxia and therapeutic response.
High-Impact Reporting: Generated publication-ready figures and concise, interpretable summaries for effective communication of findings.

Results

Cytofit allowed the OxyTarget team to analyze data from 36 patients along more than 40 dimensions, identifying novel biomarkers linked to tumor oxygenation and radiotherapy efficacy. Key outcomes:

Scalability: Allowed rapid processing of high-dimensional datasets across multiple patient cohorts.

Actionable Biomarkers: Highlighted cellular features that could guide future therapeutic strategies.

Enhanced Collaboration: Tailored reporting facilitated interdisciplinary discussions and hypothesis generation.

"Cytofit has revolutionized our analytical workflow, enabling us to focus on the science rather than the process. Its clarity and speed make it indispensable for complex studies like OxyTarget"

Sebastian Meltzer

Resident Oncologist and Postdoc at AUH

Impact

With Cytofit, the OxyTarget team integrated cytometry data into their research workflows. The platform accelerated the discovery of clinically relevant biomarkers, increasing the biological understanding of rectal cancer.

Cytofit’s role in the OxyTarget project underscores its versatility and potential to drive innovation in biomarker discovery, empowering researchers to tackle even the most challenging datasets with confidence.