Open AccessINFORM: INFrared-based ORganizational Measurements of tumor and its microenvironment to predict patient survival
Author(s) -
Saumya Tiwari,
Andre KajdacsyBalla,
Joshua Whiteley,
Georgina Cheng,
Stephen M. Hewitt,
Rohit Bhargava
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
science advances
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.928
H-Index - 146
ISSN - 2375-2548
DOI - 10.1126/sciadv.abb8292
Subject(s) - tumor microenvironment , tumor progression , tumor stage , cancer , colorectal cancer , computer science , disease , stage (stratigraphy) , medicine , computational biology , biology , pathology , paleontology
The structure and organization of a tumor and its microenvironment are often associated with cancer outcomes due to spatially varying molecular composition and signaling. A persistent challenge is to use this physical and chemical spatial organization to understand cancer progression. Here, we present a high-definition infrared imaging-based organizational measurement framework (INFORM) that leverages intrinsic chemical contrast of tissue to label unique components of the tumor and its microenvironment. Using objective and automated computational methods, further, we determine organization characteristics important for prediction. We show that the tumor spatial organization assessed with this framework is predictive of overall survival in colon cancer that adds to capability from clinical variables such as stage and grade, approximately doubling the risk of death in high-risk individuals. Our results open an all-digital avenue for measuring and studying the association between tumor spatial organization and disease progression.