Laboratory of Translational Cancer Genomics, Biomedical Center, Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen, Charles University.
Laboratory of Cancer Treatment and Tissue Regeneration, Biomedical Center, Faculty of Medicine in Pilsen, Charles University; Department of Pathology, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University.
J Vis Exp. 2024 Apr 12(206). doi: 10.3791/66743.
The insights provided by in-situ detection of immune cells within hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) might present information on patient outcomes. Studies investigating the expression and localization of immune cells within tumor tissues are associated with several challenges, including a lack of precise annotation for tumor regions and random selection of microscopic fields of view. QuPath is an open-source, user-friendly software that could meet the growing need for digital pathology in whole-slide image (WSI) analysis. The infiltration of HCC and adjacent tissues by CD1a+ immature dendritic cells (iDCs), CD117+ mast cells, and NKp46+ natural killer cells (NKs) cells was assessed immunohistochemically in representative specimens of 67 patients with HCC who underwent curative resection. The area fraction (AF) of positively stained cells was assessed automatically in WSIs using QuPath in the tumor center (TC), inner margin (IM), outer margin (OM), and peritumor (PT) area. The prognostic significance of immune cells was evaluated for time to recurrence (TTR), disease-free survival (DFS), and overall survival (OS). The AF of mast cells was significantly greater than the AF of NKs, and the AF of iDCs was significantly lower compared to NKs in each region of interest. High AFs of mast cells in the IM and PT areas were associated with longer DFS. In addition, high AF of mast cells in IM was associated with longer OS. Computer-assisted analysis using this software is a suitable tool for obtaining prognostic information for tumor-infiltrating immune cells (iDCs, mast cells, and NKs) in different regions of HCC after resection. Mast cells displayed the greatest AF in all regions of interest (ROIs). Mast cells in the peritumor region and IM showed a positive prognostic significance.
在肝细胞癌 (HCC) 中对免疫细胞进行原位检测可以提供有关患者预后的信息。研究表明,肿瘤组织中免疫细胞的表达和定位与几个挑战有关,包括肿瘤区域缺乏精确的注释和随机选择显微镜视野。QuPath 是一种开源的、用户友好的软件,可以满足对全切片图像 (WSI) 分析中数字病理学日益增长的需求。在 67 例接受根治性切除术的 HCC 患者的代表性标本中,采用免疫组织化学方法评估了 CD1a+未成熟树突状细胞 (iDC)、CD117+肥大细胞和 NKp46+自然杀伤细胞 (NK) 在 HCC 和相邻组织中的浸润情况。使用 QuPath 在肿瘤中心 (TC)、内缘 (IM)、外缘 (OM) 和肿瘤周围 (PT) 区域的 WSI 中自动评估阳性染色细胞的面积分数 (AF)。评估免疫细胞对复发时间 (TTR)、无病生存期 (DFS) 和总生存期 (OS) 的预后意义。在每个感兴趣区域 (ROI) 中,肥大细胞的 AF 明显高于 NK 细胞,而 iDC 的 AF 明显低于 NK 细胞。IM 和 PT 区域中肥大细胞的高 AF 与较长的 DFS 相关。此外,IM 中肥大细胞的高 AF 与较长的 OS 相关。使用这种软件的计算机辅助分析是一种从 HCC 不同区域切除后获得肿瘤浸润免疫细胞 (iDC、肥大细胞和 NK 细胞) 预后信息的合适工具。肥大细胞在所有 ROI 中显示出最大的 AF。肿瘤周围区域和 IM 中的肥大细胞表现出阳性预后意义。