10x Genomics Launches 500-Patient Breast Cancer Study

Pleasanton, California, United States, and Shanghai, China, November 10, 2026

Xenium Platform to Analyze 500 Breast Cancer Samples

The central objective of the collaboration is to investigate how differences in tumor biology influence responses to neoadjuvant treatment. Neoadjuvant therapy refers to treatment administered before surgery, often with the aim of shrinking tumors and improving surgical outcomes. However, patients diagnosed with breast cancer can respond differently to the same treatment regimen, making the identification of reliable predictive biomarkers an important area of clinical research. Under the 24-month study, researchers will examine pretreatment tumor biopsy samples from 500 patients using the Xenium platform developed by 10x Genomics. The technology enables researchers to investigate gene expression within intact tissue samples while preserving information about the location of individual cells. This spatial information can help scientists understand how different cell populations interact within the tumor microenvironment. Researchers will compare gene expression profiles with patient treatment outcomes to identify cellular characteristics and molecular pathways potentially linked to treatment sensitivity or resistance. The study may also be expanded in the future to include the company’s Atera platform, potentially supporting additional spatial biology research. By combining molecular profiling with clinical outcome information, the partners aim to generate evidence that could help guide future biomarker development.

Fudan Cancer Center and SPDx Advance Precision Oncology

Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center brings extensive clinical and research experience in breast cancer treatment to the collaboration. Its Breast Cancer Center is involved in clinical care, cancer research and the development of approaches to improve treatment outcomes. Shanghai Precision Diagnostics contributes expertise in molecular diagnostics, spatial biology and multi-omics technologies. The partnership combines these capabilities with 10x Genomics’ cellular-resolution spatial analysis technology to investigate biological differences that conventional diagnostic approaches may not fully capture. Zhimin Shao, Director of the Breast Cancer Center at FUSCC, highlighted the need for more reliable tools to predict individual patient responses to breast cancer treatment. Tong Zhou, Chief Executive Officer of SPDx, also emphasized the potential of combining clinical expertise with spatially resolved tumor analysis to identify biomarkers that could support more precise treatment decisions. The collaboration is expected to provide a deeper understanding of tumor biology before treatment begins, potentially helping researchers identify biological features associated with different clinical outcomes. However, the biomarkers investigated through this study will require further validation before they can be considered for clinical diagnostic use.

Spatial Biology Research Could Support Future Diagnostics

The collaboration represents part of 10x Genomics’ broader strategy to advance single-cell and spatial technologies into translational research and potential diagnostic applications. The company has outlined two complementary approaches: supporting researchers and customers in developing their own diagnostic applications using its technologies, and directly advancing selected diagnostic opportunities through additional evidence generation. The FUSCC and SPDx collaboration follows the customer-driven research pathway. Spatial biology and single-cell analysis are increasingly important tools in precision medicine, as they allow researchers to investigate biological activity at greater cellular resolution while retaining the structural context of tissue samples. In cancer research, these technologies can help identify differences between tumor cells, surrounding immune cells and other components of the tumor microenvironment. Such information may contribute to identifying biomarkers that help predict treatment response and resistance. Nevertheless, the current collaboration is a research initiative, not the launch of an approved breast cancer diagnostic test. The Xenium platform is intended for research use and is not itself authorized for diagnostic procedures. Further validation, clinical evidence and appropriate regulatory review will be necessary before any resulting diagnostic approach can be used in routine patient care. Overall, the 24-month collaboration between 10x Genomics, Fudan University Shanghai Cancer Center and Shanghai Precision Diagnostics represents an important development in breast cancer biomarker discovery and precision oncology research. By analyzing tumor samples from 500 patients, the partners aim to identify molecular signatures associated with neoadjuvant treatment responses. The research could contribute to a better understanding of tumor biology and support future efforts to develop more personalized approaches to breast cancer management.

Source: 10x Genomics press release