Image‐based multiplex immune profiling of cancer tissues: translational implications. A report of the International Immuno‐oncology Biomarker Working Group on Breast Cancer
Chowdhury Arif Jahangir, David B. Page, Glenn Broeckx, Claudia Aura Gonzalez, Caoimbhe Burke, Clodagh Murphy, Jorge S. Reis‐Filho, Amy Ly, Paul W. Harms, Rajarsi Gupta, Michael Vieth, Akira I. Hida, Mohamed M. Kahila, Zuzana Kos, P. J. van Diest, Sara Verbandt, Jeppe Thagaard, Reena Khiroya, Khalid AbdulJabbar, Gabriela Acosta Haab, Balázs Ács, Sylvia Adams, Jonas S. Almeida, Isabel Alvarado‐Cabrero, Farid Azmoudeh Ardalan, Sunil Badve, Nurkhairul Bariyah Baharun, Enrique Bellolio, Vydehi Bheemaraju, Kim RM Blenman, Luciana Botinelly Mendonça Fujimoto, Octavio Burgues, Alexandros Hardas, Maggie C.U. Cheang, Francesco Ciompi, Lee Cooper, An Coosemans, Germán Corredor, Flávio Luis Dantas Portela, Frederik Deman, Sandra Demaria, Sarah Dudgeon, Mahmoud Elghazawy, Claudio Fernandez‐Martín, Susan Fineberg, Stephen B. Fox, Jennifer M. Giltnane, Sacha Gnjatic, Paula I. González-Ericsson, Anita Grigoriadis, Niels Halama, Matthew G Hanna, Aparna Harbhajanka, Steven N. Hart, Johan Hartman, Stephen M. Hewitt, Hugo M. Horlings, Zaheed Husain, Sheeba Irshad, Emiel A. M. Janssen, Tatsuki R. Kataoka, Kosuke Kawaguchi, Andrey Khramtsov, Umay Kiraz, Pawan Kirtani, Liudmila L. Kodach, Konstanty Korski, Güray Aktürk, Ely Scott, Anikó Kovács, Anne‐Vibeke Lænkholm, Corinna Lang‐Schwarz, Denis Larsimont, Jochen K. Lennerz, Marvin Lerousseau, Xiaoxian Li, Anant Madabhushi, Sai Maley, Vidya Manur Narasimhamurthy, Douglas K. Marks, Elizabeth S. McDonald, Ravi Mehrotra, Stefan Michiels, Kharidehal Durga, Fayyaz Minhas, Shachi Mittal, David Moore, Shamim Mushtaq, Nighat Hussain, Thomas Papathomas, Frédérique Penault‐Llorca, Rashindrie Perera, Christopher J. Pinard, Juan Carlos Pinto‐Cardenas, Giancarlo Pruneri, Lajos Pusztai, Nasir Rajpoot, Bernardo L. Rapoport, Tilman T. Rau, Joana Ribeiro
Abstract
Recent advances in the field of immuno-oncology have brought transformative changes in the management of cancer patients. The immune profile of tumours has been found to have key value in predicting disease prognosis and treatment response in various cancers. Multiplex immunohistochemistry and immunofluorescence have emerged as potent tools for the simultaneous detection of multiple protein biomarkers in a single tissue section, thereby expanding opportunities for molecular and immune profiling while preserving tissue samples. By establishing the phenotype of individual tumour cells when distributed within a mixed cell population, the identification of clinically relevant biomarkers with high-throughput multiplex immunophenotyping of tumour samples has great potential to guide appropriate treatment choices. Moreover, the emergence of novel multi-marker imaging approaches can now provide unprecedented insights into the tumour microenvironment, including the potential interplay between various cell types. However, there are significant challenges to widespread integration of these technologies in daily research and clinical practice. This review addresses the challenges and potential solutions within a structured framework of action from a regulatory and clinical trial perspective. New developments within the field of immunophenotyping using multiplexed tissue imaging platforms and associated digital pathology are also described, with a specific focus on translational implications across different subtypes of cancer. © 2024 The Authors. The Journal of Pathology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of The Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland.