Deep Learning based detection of tumor tissue compartments improves prognostic immunoprofiling in muscle-invasive bladder cancer
Posted 11th November 2019 by Liv Sewell
Worldwide, bladder cancer (BC) is the 11th most commonly diagnosed cancer. In men, BC is the 7thmost commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide.[1]Although men are more likely to develop BC than women, women present with more advanced disease and have worse survival rates.[2]
Muscle-invasive bladder cancers (MIBC) are cancers that have grown into or through the muscle layers of the bladder wall.
Dr. Katharina Nekolla and Ansh Kapil and their team applied Deep Learning enabled pathology to better understand prognostic factors in MIBC. Here we review the significance of the research and share their original poster.
Taking biomarker research to a new level
Posted 21st October 2019 by Liv Sewell
Ahead of the 6th Digital Pathology and AI Congress: Europe in December, we are revisiting Professor Inti Zlobec’s research, presented at last year’s Congress, which is opening a whole field of digital pathology research. Zlobec’s research applies the latest digital pathology technology to produce high-quality tissue microarrays for biomarker analysis.
Flow Cytometry: A powerful tool in drug discovery
Posted 17th June 2019 by Joshua Sewell
Flow cytometry is a powerful tool in drug discovery because it provides a way to understand the drug’s mechanism of action. In order to stratify a better target for patients, you often need to know where the drug is working, and what kind of pathway it is operating along.
Why do biomarkers fail?
Posted 12th June 2019 by Joshua Sewell
When conducting an experiment to identify biomarkers, it is crucial to design the experiment properly. 80-90% of all biomarker populations for the last 20 years have not and cannot be reproduced, and the main reason that biomarkers fail is that these experiments are not designed properly. In this post, I will outline two ways in which experiments are poorly designed, and then outline the technological and methodological solution in a later blog.
Identifying biomarkers to track tumour burden in patient blood
Posted 3rd June 2019 by Joshua Sewell
There is a huge need to identify biomarkers to discern which metastatic colorectal cancer patients will benefit from treatment using Regorafenib. Despite being the latest approved drugs for the disease, Regorafenib has limited clinical efficacy and is associated with a number of side effects. However, a lot of patients are treated with Regorafenib as it is the only treatment available for patients who cannot receive anti-EGFR treatment due to K-RAS or BRAF mutation.
How to cope with an evolving Immuno-Oncology field and changes in pathology
Posted 5th December 2018 by Jane Williams
2018 will be remembered as a decisive year for immuno-oncology. In particular, Nobel Prize winners James Allison of MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, and Tasuku Honjo of Kyoto University in Japan lifted the field of immunotherapy to international recognition for those outside the scientific and medical communities. For the patient, these new alternatives to standard oncology therapies offer new hope for life-extending treatments using immunotherapy.
The need for non-invasive diagnosis and monitoring of NASH
Posted 29th October 2018 by Jane Williams
Nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) is a chronic liver disease and is increasing in prevalence as an etiology for end-stage liver disease and also hepatocellular carcinoma. NASH is often a silent disease and many patients have undiagnosed NASH for several years without experiencing any symptoms.
Without challenge, there is no change – the move to precision medicine
Posted 5th September 2018 by Jane Williams
I don’t need to tell you that pharma has changed, that it is still changing at speed, or that change is the new normal. I don’t need to tell you because you − more than anyone else − already know. The passing of the blockbuster era has caused uncertainty. Without the superstar drugs of old, where does the industry go next? It’s a serious challenge, but without challenge, there is no change. The answer, of course, is the scalar shift from blockbuster generic to precision medicine specific.