Analysis of tumor heterogeneity in syngeneic models; CT26.WT colon carcinoma and 4T1-Luc2-1A4 breast carcinoma in female BALB/cAnNHsd mice

AACR 2024 -- The tumor microenvironment consists of various components such as cancer-associated fibroblasts, immune cells, blood vessels and extracellular matrix elements, all of which have the potential to interact with cancer cells. There is growing acknowledgment that the tumor microenvironment can play a significant role in treatment response and resistance. Syngeneic models are necessary to study the tumor microenvironment, and more specifically the tumor infiltrating immune cell populations. These models allow us to monitor various aspects of the immune response. To address study goals, tumor samples are often split to allow for multiple types of downstream analyses. Consequently, it is important to understand the tumor microenvironment and if it is similarly represented between whole samples and samples that are split. Female BALB/cAnNHsd mice were implanted with subcutaneous CT26.WT or 4T1-Luc2-1A4 to evaluate response to treatment and to collect tumor samples to assess immune cell subsets. Immune cell profiles were analyzed via flow cytometry to quantify lymphocyte and myeloid immune cell subsets.