Cougar Country – Episode 1

In the rapidly advancing field of cancer immunotherapy, accurately modeling the tumor microenvironment (TME) has become essential to improving the predictive power of preclinical drug testing. As immune-modulating therapies surge forward, with over 4,000 immune modulators in development globally, scientists are refining assay technologies that maintain the complexity of patient-specific tumor biology. In vitro platforms…

As cancer immunotherapy continues to reshape treatment landscapes, fine-tuning T-cell responses has become a critical frontier. Recent advances in 3D organoid models and high-content imaging are enabling scientists to closely mimic patient-specific tumor environments—unlocking insights into how T cells behave, respond, and falter under immune checkpoint blockade. With over 4,000 immune modulators in clinical…

As immunotherapy revolutionizes cancer treatment, the need for physiologically relevant preclinical models becomes more urgent than ever. Despite the success of immune checkpoint inhibitors, a large majority of patients fail to achieve long-lasting responses, prompting researchers to explore more complex and predictive assays. The cancer immunity cycle, first described in 2013, remains a central framework…

In the last two decades, oncology has undergone a transformation with over 300 new cancer therapies approved by the FDA—many offering novel mechanisms of action. Despite these innovations, resistance to treatment remains a critical challenge, with cancer cells evolving or adapting to evade even the most advanced therapeutics. This issue is particularly pressing given that…