Xenium at MDC | A case study: Hypoxia in Head and Neck Cancer






























Mapping the tumour, cell by cell

A case study

What does hypoxia look like inside a tumour, cell by cell? Our team can map it,  single-cell spatial transcriptomics for up to 5,000 targets in standard FFPE tissue.

Below is a head and neck tumour core, part of a larger study with Manchester Cancer Research Centre exploring hypoxia’s effect on the tumour microenvironment, using the 10x Genomics Xenium platform.

July 2026





























One tissue core, every cell accounted for

Molecularly profiling up to 5,000 transcripts at single-cell level, in FFPE tissue.

From raw tissue to cell-by-cell identity

Cells are clustered by identity, visualised on a UMAP plot, then mapped straight back onto the tissue.


























Using the Xenium platform, we mapped the genes driving the hypoxic response at single-cell resolution, then confirmed the presence of hypoxia in those same regions using CA9 immunofluorescence staining, on the very same slide.


These genes corresponded to different subtypes of tumour cells within the same tumour, mapped to their exact position, cell by cell.





Hypoxia in head and neck cancer is one question this technology can answer

It can also provide insights across immunology, neuroscience, and other oncology programmes, Xenium has joined the ranks of our spatial biology platforms at MDC, alongside GeoMx and CosMx.

  • Identifying new drug targets in complex tissue
  • Mapping how prevalent a target is across patient samples
  • Understanding why some patients respond to treatment and others don’t
  • Characterising immune infiltration in the tumour microenvironment






Speak to us about using the Xenium Platform and MDC biomarker expertise for your data.

If your project could benefit from single-cell spatial resolution, we’ll help you work out whether it’s the right fit, and which of our platforms answers your question best.







Part of a larger study with Manchester Cancer Research Centre exploring hypoxia’s effect on the tumour microenvironment. Using the 10x Genomics Xenium platform.










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