Method for quantifying immune cells in tumor tissue and its application

摘要

A method for assessment of a number or density of immune cells in tumoral tissues comprising the steps consisting in: a. providing one or more immunostained slices of tissue section obtained by an automated slide-staining system by using antibodies binding specifically to antigens (markers) expressed by immune cells. b. proceeding to digitalization of the slides of step a. by high resolution scan capture, whereby a high definition (4.6 μm/pixel or better) digital picture of the slide to be analyzed is obtained, c. detecting the slice of tissue section on the digital picture d. analyzing the slice of tissue section for defining (i) the tumor (CT) and (ii) the invasive margin of the tumor (IM), e. providing a size reference grid with uniformly distributed units having a same surface, said grid being adapted to the size of the tumor to be analyzed, e1. checking the quality of immunostaining, f. detecting and quantifying stained cells of each unit whereby the number or the density of immune cells stained of each unit is assessed.