July 17, 2026
The challenge: Hyperplex data eliminates inter-slide variability, but introduces it's own challenges
By reading dozens of markers from a single slide, spatial biology approaches minimize tissue use and remove slide-to-slide variability. But it comes with its own challenges: huge data volumes, and the requirement for stringent phenotyping consistency and analytical rigor to make accurate, actionable conclusions.
The platform: Built on the COMET
How the COMET works: an integrated staining and scanning system analyzing up to 40 markers on a single slide through iterative stain-image-elute cycles, built for the standardized, documented protocols clinical trial contexts demand.
The assay was developed and validated for accuracy, sensitivity, specificity, and cross-site concordance between CellCarta's labs in Lake Forest, California and Antwerp, Belgium.
The study: Complete responder vs non-responder dataset
In a 20-plex hyperplex analysis of tissue samples from patients with muscle-invasive bladder cancer treated with neo-adjuvant immunotherapy, CellCarta's clinical-grade COMET workflow highlighted distinct differences in immune composition, spatial proximity, and tissue organization between an immunotherapy responder and a non-responder, all from a single slide per patient.
- Phenotype composition how immune, stromal, and tumor proportions differed between the two cases
- Spatial distance, co-localization and niche analysis
- What it means for IO programs how tissue organization, not just cell counts, reflects response
- How we build global assays for comparable results, regardless of data collection location
- The clinical-grade, platform agnostic workflow that turns hyperplex image data into reliable, interpretable biological findings
From early-stage biotechs to established biopharma, understanding why some patients respond better than others is essential.
