This APP has been developed to quantify the mitotic index of PHH3 positive cells within breast carcinoma. The APP uses the Virtual Double Staining (VDS) technique, which enables automated and robust detection of tumor regions.
Two serial sections stained respectively for PHH3 and Pancytokeratin (PCK) must be used in this APP. Tumor regions are identified automatically on the PCK stained slide and the outlined tumor region is overlaid on the PHH3 stained slide, thus automatically identifying tumor regions.
Phosphohistone H3 (PHH3) is a mitotic marker and has prognostic capabilities when applied to breast cancer tissue, see [3]. The mitotic index can be obtained by PHH3-immunohistochemical staining, which can be used as a supplement for diagnosis.
PCK is used as a cytoplasmatic marker to localize the cancer tissue.
This APP can be used to automatically outline tumor regions and determine the mitotic index. The APP described here is developed for TMA cores, but the method can easily be applied to whole slides as well.