AI-Powered Method GlioTrace Tracks Brain Cancer Cells

Researchers at Uppsala University have developed a new method called GlioTrace, which combines live brain tissue imaging technology with artificial intelligence to track the spread and treatment response of aggressive brain cancer cells known as glioblastoma. Published in the journal Nature Communications, the study reported that this method allows for the examination of the movement of thousands of individual tumor cells and the transitions between cell states.

Glioblastoma is known as one of the most aggressive types of brain cancer, making treatment difficult by infiltrating healthy tissue that cannot be surgically removed. Researchers grew glioblastoma cells obtained from six patients as tumors in mouse brains and examined these brains while keeping them alive in the laboratory. Cell movements in the tissues, photographed at two-hour intervals for up to five days using automated microscopy, were tracked through a machine learning system and statistical models.

The results revealed distinct differences in the ways tumors spread. While some tumors advanced primarily along blood vessels, others spread in a more dispersed manner within the brain tissue. It was also observed that cells can change their shape and movement patterns over time, transitioning between independent movement and progression along vessels. The method was also used to examine the effects of drugs and a combination of radiation and chemotherapy on cell motility.