Publications

Poster presented at AACR D3 2026

Evaluation of immune checkpoint inhibitors and targeted therapies ex vivo in live tumor fragments from core biopsies and resections accurately predicts response in the clinic

This poster presents data from mouse xenografts derived from the KRAS-mutant pancreatic cancer cell line MIA PaCa-2, showing decreased cell viability following ex vivo treatment with three separate KRAS inhibitors. A follow-up study using live tumor fragments from a human pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma specimen showed similar cytotoxic effects, highlighting the platform's potential to functionally evaluate targeted therapies in patient-derived tumor tissue.

Preprint paper on MedRxiv

Prediction of immunotherapy response using live tumor fragments from routine clinical biopsies

This preprint demonstrates that a scalable ex vivo platform using standard-of-care biopsies can accurately predict ICI response. We show the elive™ platform correctly identifies clinical benefit in 93% of patients across a multicenter study, including patients who would be missed by current companion diagnostic biomarkers.

Poster presented at ASCO 2026

Development and testing of an ex vivo, live tumor fragment platform for the prediction of immune checkpoint inhibitor response and relationship to approved biomarkers

This poster presents the latest data of the elive™ ex vivo platform using routine core needle and forceps biopsies across multiple tumor types and clinical sites. Using live tumor fragments, we developed the elive index, a binary cytokine-based classifier of ex vivo ICI response. In a validation cohort, the elive index correctly predicted clinical benefit in 93% of patients and identified platform responders among patients negative for approved ICI biomarkers. 

Poster presented at AACR 2026

Rapid and autonomous multi-agent augmented analysis of immune checkpoint inhibitor responses from diverse datasets

This poster characterizes the integration of ex vivo cytokine profiling data from live tumor fragments with bulk transcriptomic datasets using Mithrl’s autonomous multi-agent AI platform and reveals that cytokine signatures observed from ex vivo profiling are reflected in transcriptomic phenotypes known to be associated with response to ICIs.

Poster presented at AACR IO 2026

Characterization of αPD-1, αCTLA-4, and αLAG-3 as mono and combination therapy in live tumor fragments using an ex vivo cytokine profiling platform

This poster characterizes cytokine responses to single agent and combination immune checkpoint inhibitors beyond PD-1 in live tumor fragments generated from resections and core needle biopsies, revealing that unique cytokine signatures are observed for individual tumor specimens, regardless of treatment condition.  

Platform paper published in Journal of Translational Medicine

A live tumor fragment platform to assess immunotherapy response in core needle biopsies while addressing challenges of tumor heterogeneity

We describe our ex vivo platform for assessing immune checkpoint inhibitor response using live tumor tissue while preserving large areas of the contiguous native tumor microenvironment.  Using a sequential treatment strategy, we mitigate tumor heterogeneity challenges exacerbated when tissue amount is scarce.

Poster presented at SABCS 2025

Ex vivo cytokine profiling of live triple negative breast cancer patient specimens from core needle biopsies illustrates proof of concept to assess tumor response to immune checkpoint inhibition

This poster provides an overview of the cytokine profiling and clinical response data from triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) patient specimens collected to date, including a closer look at a platform responder for which the patient achieved a complete response in the clinic.

Poster presented at SITC 2025

Development and characterization of cytokine-based classifiers to predict response to immunotherapy using an ex vivo live tumor fragment platform

Cytokine profiling data gathered on the Elephas Live platform was used to develop an algorithm to classify ex vivo response to immune checkpoint inhibitors. Corresponding clinical data from 18 patients showed that the platform response correlated with clinical response for each clinical responder and progressor. 

Poster presented at ASCO 2025, Chicago

ELEPHAS-01, ELEPHAS-02 and ELEPHAS-04: Multi-institutional observational prospective clinical trials to assess the accuracy of an ex vivo live tumor fragment platform for predicting immunotherapy response

Poster presented at AACR 2025, Chicago

A sequential treatment strategy for ex vivo profiling of LTFs that mitigates tumor heterogeneity and tissue scarcity from core needle biopsies to characterize response to immunotherapies

Poster presented at AACR 2025, Chicago

A method for preparing tumor tissues for ex vivo culture that retains T cells within live tumor fragments while preserving tissue viability and T cell function

Poster presented at SITC 2024, Houston

Label-free dynamic optical coherence microscopy assesses cytotoxicity in response to immune checkpoint inhibitors in ex vivo live tumor tissue

Poster presented at SITC 2024, Houston

Comparison of the clinical biomarkers dMMR, MSI-H and PD-L1 with cytokines secreted from anti-PD-1 treated human live tumor fragments on an ex vivo platform

Consistent with clinical studies and real-world data, the Elephas platform detects an enrichment in cytokine response to αPD-1 treatment in human LTFs from biomarker-positive specimens.

Paper published in Journal of Biomedical Optics

Label-free fluorescence lifetime imaging for the assessment of cell viability in living tumor fragments

We have developed and fully characterized a label-free imaging assay of cell viability based on multiphoton fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy that leaves tissues intact and viable for repeated assessment of specimens over time, as well as downstream evaluation with other Elephas platform assays.

Paper published in Biomedical Optics Express

Assessing cell viability with dynamic optical coherence microscopy

We demonstrate that dynamic optical coherence microscopy, a technical component of the Elephas platform, can distinguish live cells from dead cells in murine syngeneic tumors.

Poster presented at AACR 2024, San Diego

Assessing cytotoxic T cell responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors in murine and human tumor samples using metabolic imaging

The Elephas platform can be used to assess immune checkpoint inhibitor response in clinically relevant core needle biopsies.

Poster presented at SITC 2023, San Diego

Assessing cytotoxic T cell responses in live tumor fragments with multiphoton microscopy

The Elephas platform can simultaneously assess activation of T cells and cytotoxic killing of tumor cells in response to immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Poster presented at AACR 2023, Orlando

Label-free imaging for rapid assessment of tumor viability in live tumor fragments

Using nondestructive, label-free multiphoton microscopy, the Elephas platform accurately predicts live/dead status of live tumor fragments (LTFs) and can assess tumors longitudinally.

Poster presented at SITC 2022, Boston

Murine live tumor fragments can be used to assess immunotherapy response

The Elephas platform addresses heterogeneity of tumors and creates homogenous treatment groups which can receive adoptive T cells, indicating CAR T-cell therapy can be assessed on the platform.

Poster presented at AACR 2022, New Orleans

A live tumor fragment platform with imaging for immune response assays

LTFs are viable, maintain motility of T cells and respond to checkpoint inhibitors by increasing cell surface marker expression and cytokine production, supporting the maintenance of the tumor microenvironment in our platform.

Poster presented at AACR 2022, New Orleans

Tumor/normal and live/dead classification in live tumor fragments using label-free multiphoton microscopy

The Elephas platform leverages nondestructive multiphoton label-free imaging to differentiate between live and dead cells in LTFs.

Poster presented at AACR 2022, New Orleans

Dynamic imaging of T cell surveillance in live tumor fragments using camelid nanobodies

The Elephas platform can track the motility of T cells and can distinguish T cells from tumor associated macrophages.