Quantitative Multiplex Immunohistochemistry Reveals Myeloid-Inflamed Tumor-Immune Complexity Associated with Poor Prognosis

Takahiro Tsujikawa, Sushil Kumar, Rohan N. Borkar, Vahid Azimi, Guillaume Thibault, Young Hwan Chang, Ariel Balter, Rie Kawashima, Gina Choe, David Sauer, Edward El Rassi, Daniel R. Clayburgh, Molly F. Kulesz-Martin, Eric R. Lutz, Lei Zheng, Elizabeth M. Jaffee, Patrick Leyshock, Adam A. Margolin, Motomi Mori, Joe W. GrayPaul W. Flint, Lisa M. Coussens

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

357 Scopus citations

Abstract

Here, we describe a multiplexed immunohistochemical platform with computational image processing workflows, including image cytometry, enabling simultaneous evaluation of 12 biomarkers in one formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue section. To validate this platform, we used tissue microarrays containing 38 archival head and neck squamous cell carcinomas and revealed differential immune profiles based on lymphoid and myeloid cell densities, correlating with human papilloma virus status and prognosis. Based on these results, we investigated 24 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas from patients who received neoadjuvant GVAX vaccination and revealed that response to therapy correlated with degree of mono-myelocytic cell density and percentages of CD8+ T cells expressing T cell exhaustion markers. These data highlight the utility of in situ immune monitoring for patient stratification and provide digital image processing pipelines to the community for examining immune complexity in precious tissue sections, where phenotype and tissue architecture are preserved to improve biomarker discovery and assessment.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)203-217
Number of pages15
JournalCell Reports
Volume19
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - Apr 4 2017

Keywords

  • cancer immunology
  • digital pathology
  • head and neck cancer
  • image cytometry
  • immunohistochemistry
  • multiplex
  • pancreatic cancer
  • tissue biomarker

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology

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