Pitfalls in machine learning-based assessment of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in breast cancer : a report of the international immuno-oncology biomarker working group on breast cancer
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Date
Authors
Thagaard, Jeppe
Broeckx, Glenn
Page, David B.
Jahangir, Chowdhury Arif
Verbandt, Sara
Kos, Zuzana
Gupta, Rajarsi R.
Khiroya, Reena
Abduljabbar, Khalid
Haab, Gabriela Acosta
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Wiley
Abstract
The clinical significance of the tumor-immune interaction in breast cancer is now established, and tumor-infiltrating
lymphocytes (TILs) have emerged as predictive and prognostic biomarkers for patients with triple-negative (estrogen
receptor, progesterone receptor, and HER2-negative) breast cancer and HER2-positive breast cancer. How computational
assessments of TILs might complement manual TIL assessment in trial and daily practices is currently
debated. Recent efforts to use machine learning (ML) to automatically evaluate TILs have shown promising results.
We review state-of-the-art approaches and identify pitfalls and challenges of automated TIL evaluation by studying
the root cause of ML discordances in comparison to manual TIL quantification. We categorize our findings into four
main topics: (1) technical slide issues, (2) ML and image analysis aspects, (3) data challenges, and (4) validation
issues. The main reason for discordant assessments is the inclusion of false-positive areas or cells identified by
performance on certain tissue patterns or design choices in the computational implementation. To aid the adoption
of ML for TIL assessment, we provide an in-depth discussion of ML and image analysis, including validation issues
that need to be considered before reliable computational reporting of TILs can be incorporated into the trial and
routine clinical management of patients with triple-negative breast cancer.
Description
Keywords
Deep learning, Machine learning, Digital pathology, Guidelines, Image analysis, Pitfalls, Prognostic biomarker, Triple-negative breast cancer, Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, SDG-03: Good health and well-being, SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure, Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs)
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG-03:Good heatlh and well-being
SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
SDG-09: Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Citation
Thagaard, J., Broeckx, G., Page, C.B. et al. 2023, 'Pitfalls in machine learning-based assessment of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in breast cancer : a report of the international immuno-oncology biomarker working group on breast cancer', Journal of Pathology, vol. 260, pp. 498-513. DOI: 10.1002/path.6155