Automated deep learning-based assessment of tumour-infiltrating lymphocyte density determines prognosis in colorectal cancer.

Journal: Journal of translational medicine
PMID:

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The presence of tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) is a well-established prognostic biomarker across multiple cancer types, with higher TIL counts being associated with lower recurrence rates and improved patient survival. We aimed to examine whether an automated intraepithelial TIL (iTIL) assessment could stratify patients by risk, with the ability to generalise across independent patient cohorts, using routine H&E slides of colorectal cancer (CRC). To our knowledge, no other existing fully automated iTIL system has demonstrated this capability.

Authors

  • Joshua Millward
    School of Computing, Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. j.millward@latrobe.edu.au.
  • Zhen He
  • Aiden Nibali
    Department of Computer Science and Computer Engineering, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia. anibali@students.latrobe.edu.au.
  • Dmitri Mouradov
    Personalised Oncology Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Melbourne, Australia.
  • Lisa A Mielke
    Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia.
  • Kelly Tran
    Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia.
  • Angela Chou
    Royal North Shore Hospital and Northern Clinical School, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
  • Nicholas J Hawkins
    School of Biomedical Sciences, UNSW Sydney, Sydney, Australia.
  • Robyn L Ward
    School of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, University of New South Wales Sydney, Kensington, NSW, Australia; Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, Australia.
  • Anthony J Gill
    Royal North Shore Hospital, Cancer Diagnosis and Pathology Group, Kolling Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, Australia.
  • Oliver M Sieber
    Personalised Oncology Division, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medial Research, 1G Royal Parade, Parkville, Melbourne, VIC, 3052, Australia.
  • David S Williams
    Department of Ophthalmology and Stein Eye Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Department of Neurobiology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Molecular Biology Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Brain Research Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA. Electronic address: dswilliams@ucla.edu.