Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a primary cancer of the liver and a leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, see [1]. Important risk factors include chronic liver disease and cirrhosis, and the incidence of HCC is expected to continue to escalate. HCC is an aggressive cancer and early diagnosis is critical for the survival of patients. In situ hybridization (ISH) is used for the detection of markers of HCC. Presented in 2012, RNAscope is one of the more recent RNA in situ hybridization techniques that allows visualization of multiple target genes. RNAscope uses a probe design strategy that amplifies the signal and suppresses the background, which results in increased sensitivity and specificity, see [2].
The APP works on dual probe RNAscope images. Cells and probe signals are automatically detected and cells are classified according to the number of probes associated with the cell. Both probe signals and cells are quantified.