Speaker:

Assistant Professor Yen-Liang (Allen) Liu
Master Program of Biomedical Engineering, China Medical University

Title:

Cancer diagnosis and therapy: deep learning-assisted cytopathology and foam-based immunotherapy for intraperitoneal metastasis

Abstract:

In the first part, Prof. Liu will talk about the rapid and precise method he developed for the quantification of the biopsies’ tumor content. He developed a deep learning-assisted cytopathological analysis model named Rapid On-Site cytopathological Examination incorporating Machine learning and Revised Yolo (ROSEMaRY), which can differentiate malignant biopsy from benign tissue with 92% accuracy. This study has demonstrated the feasibility of the rapid on-site evaluation of tumor content of the biopsy right after the surgery. The deep learning-assisted cytopathology can facilitate cancer diagnosis and reduce the burden on pathologists.

In the second part, Prof. Liu will speak about a foam-based drug and cell delivery system named Immunofoam. This method is to greatly improve the present palliation or chemotherapy for treating peritoneal metastasis, which is a common complication of late-stage cancers with drug resistance. Immunofoam is an injectable liquid foam capable of carrying combination therapies, including chemo drugs, immune adjuvants, nano/micro-particles, and immune cells. The foam formulation enables drug carriers to conform to the tissue surface and immerse the cancer cells in therapeutic agents, extending the drug contact time. Immunofoam was combined with STING agonist for intraperitoneal injection with antigen-presenting cells and cytotoxic T cells, achieving significant therapeutic efficacy in murine tumor models. His study demonstrated that Immunofoam is a promising therapeutic innovation for intraperitoneal immunotherapy for metastatic peritoneal cancer.

Biography:

Dr. Liu, Yen-Liang (Allen; 劉彥良) received his B.S. degree in Life Science and M.S. degree in Biomedical Engineering from National Taiwan University. Allen’s master thesis was focused on lung tissue engineering and alveolar angiogenesis. He also participated in clinical research of stem cell therapy for knee cartilage regeneration. Allen performed his graduate studies focusing on 3-dimensional single-molecule tracking studies of EGFR for assessing metastatic potential of breast cancer cells under the guidance of Prof. H. C. (Tim) Yeh at the Biomedical Engineering Department of the University of Texas at Austin. The methodological development of the accurate 3-dimensional tracking using the two-photon single-particle tracking microscope he developed was the key for the success of this study, and Allen received his Ph.D. degree in 2018. Allen’s research focuses on the instrumentation of an advanced fluorescence microscope and its application in cancer diagnostics. He is also the co-founder of the Texas Taiwanese Biotechnology Association (TTBA) and the President of 2017. In 2019, he was awarded the Young Scholar Fellowship Program (Columbus project) and started his laboratory at China Medical University.

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