Kuczkiewicz-Siemion Olga, Sokół Kamil, Puton Beata, Borkowska Aneta, Szumera-Ciećkiewicz Anna
Department of Pathology, Maria Sklodowska-Curie National Research Institute of Oncology, 02-781 Warsaw, Poland.
Diagnostic Hematology Department, Institute of Hematology and Transfusion Medicine, 02-776 Warsaw, Poland.
Cancers (Basel). 2022 Aug 8;14(15):3833. doi: 10.3390/cancers14153833.
Immune checkpoint inhibitors, including those concerning programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) and its ligand (PD-L1), have revolutionised the cancer therapy approach in the past decade. However, not all patients benefit from immunotherapy equally. The prediction of patient response to this type of therapy is mainly based on conventional immunohistochemistry, which is limited by intraobserver variability, semiquantitative assessment, or single-marker-per-slide evaluation. Multiplex imaging techniques and digital image analysis are powerful tools that could overcome some issues concerning tumour-microenvironment studies. This novel approach to biomarker assessment offers a better understanding of the complicated interactions between tumour cells and their environment. Multiplex labelling enables the detection of multiple markers simultaneously and the exploration of their spatial organisation. Evaluating a variety of immune cell phenotypes and differentiating their subpopulations is possible while preserving tissue histology in most cases. Multiplexing supported by digital pathology could allow pathologists to visualise and understand every cell in a single tissue slide and provide meaning in a complex tumour-microenvironment contexture. This review aims to provide an overview of the different multiplex imaging methods and their application in PD-L1 biomarker assessment. Moreover, we discuss digital imaging techniques, with a focus on slide scanners and software.
免疫检查点抑制剂，包括那些针对程序性细胞死亡蛋白1（PD-1）及其配体（PD-L1）的抑制剂，在过去十年中彻底改变了癌症治疗方法。然而，并非所有患者都能同等程度地从免疫治疗中获益。对这类治疗的患者反应预测主要基于传统免疫组织化学，其受到观察者内部变异性、半定量评估或每张载玻片单标记评估的限制。多重成像技术和数字图像分析是强大的工具，可以克服一些与肿瘤微环境研究相关的问题。这种评估生物标志物的新方法有助于更好地理解肿瘤细胞与其环境之间复杂的相互作用。多重标记能够同时检测多种标志物并探索它们的空间组织。在大多数情况下，在保留组织组织学的同时，可以评估多种免疫细胞表型并区分其亚群。数字病理学支持的多重检测可以让病理学家在单一组织载玻片中可视化并了解每个细胞，并在复杂的肿瘤微环境结构中赋予其意义。本综述旨在概述不同的多重成像方法及其在PD-L1生物标志物评估中的应用。此外，我们还将讨论数字成像技术，重点是载玻片扫描仪和软件。
