Quantitative assessment of pancreatic cancer precursor lesions in IHC-stained tissue with a tissue image analysis platform

Lab Invest. 2016 Dec;96(12):1327-1336. doi: 10.1038/labinvest.2016.111. Epub 2016 Oct 24.

Abstract

Tissue image analysis (tIA) is emerging as a powerful tool for quantifying biomarker expression and distribution in complex diseases and tissues. Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) develops in a highly complex and heterogeneous tissue environment and, generally, has a very poor prognosis. Early detection of PDAC is confounded by limited knowledge of the pre-neoplastic disease stages and limited methods to quantitatively assess disease heterogeneity. We sought to develop a tIA approach to assess the most common PDAC precursor lesions, pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasia (PanIN), in tissues from KrasLSL-G12D/+; Trp53LSL-R172H/+; Pdx-Cre (KPC) mice, a validated model of PDAC development. tIA profiling of training regions of PanIN and tumor microenvironment (TME) cells was utilized to guide identification of PanIN/TME tissue compartment stratification criteria. A custom CellMap algorithm implementing these criteria was applied to whole-slide images of KPC mice pancreata sections to quantify p53 and Ki-67 biomarker staining in each tissue compartment as a proof-of-concept for the algorithm platform. The algorithm robustly identified a higher percentage of p53-positive cells in PanIN lesions relative to the TME, whereas no difference was observed for Ki-67. Ki-67 expression was also quantified in a human pancreatic tissue sample available to demonstrate the translatability of the CellMap algorithm to human samples. Together, our data demonstrated the utility of CellMap to enable objective and quantitative assessments, across entire tissue sections, of PDAC precursor lesions in preclinical and clinical models of this disease to support efforts leading to novel insights into disease progression, diagnostic markers, and potential therapeutic targets.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Adenocarcinoma in Situ / diagnosis*
  • Adenocarcinoma in Situ / diagnostic imaging
  • Adenocarcinoma in Situ / metabolism
  • Adenocarcinoma in Situ / pathology
  • Algorithms
  • Animals
  • Automation, Laboratory
  • Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal / diagnosis*
  • Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal / diagnostic imaging
  • Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal / metabolism
  • Carcinoma, Pancreatic Ductal / pathology
  • Crosses, Genetic
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Early Detection of Cancer / methods
  • Humans
  • Image Processing, Computer-Assisted
  • Immunohistochemistry
  • Ki-67 Antigen / metabolism
  • Mice, Mutant Strains
  • Mice, Transgenic
  • Pancreas / metabolism
  • Pancreas / pathology*
  • Pancreatic Neoplasms / diagnosis*
  • Pancreatic Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging
  • Pancreatic Neoplasms / metabolism
  • Pancreatic Neoplasms / pathology
  • Precancerous Conditions / diagnosis*
  • Precancerous Conditions / diagnostic imaging
  • Precancerous Conditions / metabolism
  • Precancerous Conditions / pathology
  • Software
  • Specific Pathogen-Free Organisms
  • Tissue Banks
  • Tumor Suppressor Protein p53 / metabolism*
  • Ultrasonography

Substances

  • Ki-67 Antigen
  • Tumor Suppressor Protein p53