Activity Detail
Seminar
Vascular Reprogramming in the Tumor Microenvironment: Towards Innovative Therapeutic Strategies
Melissa García
For decades, tumor blood vessels were regarded as passive structures whose main function was to nourish the tumor. We now know that the tumor vasculature is an active, dynamic, and profoundly altered component of the tumor microenvironment. Its abnormal architecture, characterized by disorganized, leaky, and poorly perfused vessels, promotes hypoxia, hinders drug delivery, and contributes to tumor progression, therapeutic resistance, and metastatic dissemination. In addition, tumor vessels actively regulate immune cell infiltration and shape multiple aspects of tumor biology. Far from representing a uniform population, tumor endothelial cells adopt distinct functional states, including angiogenic, immunoregulatory, and metabolically reprogrammed phenotypes, with relevant clinical implications. The central focus of this talk will be to discuss how single-cell omics technologies and spatial approaches are enabling us to decipher this vascular diversity and heterogeneity, identify actionable molecular programs, and uncover new therapeutic targets. Finally, I will discuss how this knowledge can be translated into the design of more precise strategies, such as vascular normalization, targeted therapies, and the development of predictive biomarkers of response.