Using quantitative imaging to link immune profile and tumor grade in breast cancer. (TECH1P.861)

Tumor grade determines how quickly a tumor proliferates and spreads. It is one of the factors used to determine the best treatment approach for cancer patients. The Nottingham Histological Score is used to determine tumor grade in breast cancer. Three factors comprise this score: amount of gland formation, nuclear features, and mitotic activity. These factors tell how close the cancer cells and the tumor tissue structure resemble normal cells and tissue. Well-differentiated (grade 1) tumors closely resemble normal cells and tissue and grow and spread slowly. Moderately (grade 2) - and poorly (grade 3) - differentiated tumors have abnormal cell appearance, lack normal tissue structures, and grow and spread faster. In this pilot project, we were interested in determining if we could link tumor microenvironment immune profiles to tumor grade. We used our quantitative imaging process including multiplexed immunohistochemistry, multispectral imaging, and quantitative analysis software to generate immune profiles of CD3+ T cells, CD20+ B cells, CD1a+ dendritic cells, and cytokeratin+ cancer cells in primary tumor and tumor draining lymph nodes of breast cancer patients. Tumor grades were collected from pathology reports. Our preliminary data suggests that we can link immune profiles and tumor grade. Our next steps are to determine if combination of immune profiles and tumor grade can improve selection of treatment approach for breast cancer patients versus tumor grade alone.