The Institute of Cancer Research is buying a new cell analyser that can track more than 40 immune markers at once, up from a current limit of 29. Conventional flow cytometers cannot distinguish enough cell types or handle samples that glow naturally, which has forced researchers to run multiple experiments on limited patient blood or mouse tissue. The SONY-ID7000 uses spectral unmixing to separate overlapping signals and subtract autofluorescence, so a single sample can yield far richer data. This matters because understanding how the immune system responds to radiotherapy, chemotherapy, and immunotherapy requires mapping many cell populations simultaneously. If the equipment works as intended, researchers will need fewer precious patient samples, can use cheaper antibodies, and will design experiments faster. The machine will support projects on radiotherapy-induced immune changes, DNA repair inhibition, prostate and bladder cancer evolution, and immune cell metabolism. This is an infrastructure investment in fundamental cancer immunology—it will not directly treat patients, but it will generate the high-resolution data needed to design smarter combination therapies.
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At the Institute of Cancer Research (ICR), many teams are focused on understanding how the immune system responds to standard cancer treatments—chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and immunotherapy—, as well as novel strategies, to improve patient outcomes. This research requires high-parameter flow cytometry to analyse immune cell populations, study the tumour microenvironment, and monitor tumour evolution and adaptation. However, the conventional flow cytometry systems currently available at the ICR can only analyse up to 29 parameters per experiment, while our studies require beyond 40 to distinguish different cell populations. Moreover, the commonly used reporter proteins in our preclinical studies, such as Kaede for cell trafficking and Tocky for TCR signalling dynamics, have broad emission spectra, further limiting the number of fluorochromes that can be studied. Additionally, highly autofluorescent samples cannot be analysed with our conventional system. Spectral flow cytometry overcomes these challenges by enabling the use of more markers in a single experiment (particularly important when patient and animal samples are limited), improving data resolution between fluorophores with overlapping emission profiles, and subtracting autofluorescence to ensure higher data quality. We have identified SONY-ID7000 Spectral Cell Analyser as the best equipment to meet the needs of our researchers. This was decided based on its advanced technical features such as spectral unmixing algorithm, enhanced autofluorescence subtraction, modular capacity and fast acquisition times. These capabilities will allow ICR researchers to: expand the number of markers that can be used per experiment (only limited by fluorochrome availability) allowing us to characterise all the relevant subsets of cell populations and biomarkers. effectively remove autofluorescence, allowing the use of highly autofluorescent mouse and human samples. minimise the number of samples required per experiment, addressing a key challenge in preclinical and, particularly, clinical studies where patient blood volumes are often limited. decrease the time required for panel design, optimisation, data acquisition and analyses. enable the use less expensive conjugated antibodies, which was previously not possible. The equipment will be embedded in the ICR’s Flow Cytometry Core Facility, where it will be efficiently managed by our experienced Flow Cytometry Facility staff. The Facility, which currently operates at full capacity with six conventional flow cytometers, serves ~300 users across the ICR and has seen a three-fold increase in usage over the past three years. Due to restricted access and logistical challenges preventing us from using spectral analysers outside the ICR, there is a significant demand for this new system. Given the growing need for high-parameter analyses, and support from six ICR divisions for this application, we expect immediate full-capacity utilisation and seamless integration with our existing systems. The SONY-ID7000 will support a number of cutting-edge projects at the ICR, including: Characterising the functional immune response to radiotherapy (we have particular expertise and activity in radiotherapy-induced immune changes across pre-clinical models and patient samples), including advanced radiotherapy technologies. Evaluation of DNA repair inhibition combined with radiotherapy to sculpt the tumour-immune microenvironment. Multidimensional analysis of prostate cancer evolution in pre-clinical models. Longitudinal definition of tumour microenvironment in murine models of carcinogen-induced bladder cancer. Examining the impact of radiotherapy and immunotherapy on the metabolism of immune cells. Immunological response to radiotherapy treatment in patients in diverse tumour types. Overall, SONY-ID7000 is a vital piece of equipment that will transform our understanding of tumour evolution and immune response.
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