The CD8 protein is found on a subset of cytotoxic T cells. CD8+ T cells can recognize cancer antigens and inhibit the development of cancer. A high frequency of intraepithelial CD8+ T cells is a positive prognostic factor in most solid tumors including ovarian cancer, see [1].
This protocol can be used to assess tumors by determining the CD8 positivity. Tissue and tumor regions are identified and outlined automatically prior to the CD8 analysis by auxiliary APPs. The protocol provides the number of positive and negative nuclei as well as the positive percentage. By allowing the user to adjust the sensitivity for the detection of nuclei and vary the threshold for differentiation between positive and negative nuclei, the protocol can be used on images with different staining intensities.