4D Path recently had the honor of including two publications in the virtual curriculum at the 2022 ASCO Annual Meeting. The publications addressed that the majority of druggable targets that drive oncogenic vulnerability are not expressed in a uniform or homogeneous manner throughout tumor tissue. Thus, intratumoral heterogeneity, as observed among the cells of an individual tumor, poses a major challenge in targeted therapy selection in oncology practice. Considered to be one of the leading causes of therapeutic resistance and treatment failure, intratumoral heterogeneity demands proper quantification that can truly and objectively reflect its prognostic value. Such a clinical utility could potentially bring a real paradigm shift in personalized targeted therapy choices in oncology.
Moreover, our research focused on automated, immunostaining-free, and solely H&E image-based quantification and prognostic evaluation of the intratumoral heterogeneity of two key molecular profiles in breast cancer: HER2 and Ki67.
Below is a summary of each abstract and a link to view them in the ASCO virtual library.
- Automated H&E image-based detection and prognostic evaluation of HER2 heterogeneity in ER+ breast cancers
Abstract: e12517
Satabhisa Mukhopadhyay, Tathagata Dasgupta, Angelene Berwick, Elizabeth Walsh, Michele Cummings, Nicolas M. Orsi
Summary: Underscores the merit of identifying HER2 heterogeneity using digitized H&E stained breast biopsy slide images alone. We have established this index to be a robust prognostic indicator in determining PFS in ER+ carcinomas. - Automated H&E whole slide image surrogate Ki67 index prediction and prognostic value across breast cancer subtypes
Abstract: e12518
Satabhisa Mukhopadhyay, Tathagata Dasgupta, Angelene Berwick, Elizabeth Walsh, Andrew Hanby, Rebecca Millican-Slater, Michele Cummings, Nicolas M. Orsi
Summary: Despite its purported prognostic significance in breast cancer, Ki67 index assessment typically remains poorly standardized and features high discordance rates amongst pathologists. Moreover, its clinical utility is presently confined to low stage, ER+/HER2- tumors in determining the advisability of adjuvant chemotherapy. Now, we have developed two novel surrogate indices of Ki67 and QPL that can be readily automated to analyze H&E breast cancer WSIs.
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