Computational pathology in ovarian cancer

Abstract

Histopathologic evaluations of tissue sections are key to diagnosing and managing ovarian cancer. Pathologists empirically assess and integrate visual information, such as cellular density, nuclear atypia, mitotic figures, architectural growth patterns, and higher-order patterns, to determine the tumor type and grade, which guides oncologists in selecting appropriate treatment options. Latent data embedded in pathology slides can be extracted using computational imaging. Computers can analyze digital slide images to simultaneously quantify thousands of features, some of which are visible with a manual microscope, such as nuclear size and shape, while others, such as entropy, eccentricity, and fractal dimensions, are quantitatively beyond the grasp of the human mind. Applications of artificial intelligence and machine learning tools to interpret digital image data provide new opportunities to explore and quantify the spatial organization of tissues, cells, and subcellular structures. In comparison to genomic, epigenomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic patterns, morphologic and spatial patterns are expected to be more informative as quantitative biomarkers of complex and dynamic tumor biology. As computational pathology is not limited to visual data, nuanced subvisual alterations that occur in the seemingly “normal” pre-cancer microenvironment could facilitate research in early cancer detection and prevention. Currently, efforts to maximize the utility of computational pathology are focused on integrating image data with other -omics platforms that lack spatial information, thereby providing a new way to relate the molecular, spatial, and microenvironmental characteristics of cancer. Despite a dire need for improvements in ovarian cancer prevention, early detection, and treatment, the ovarian cancer field has lagged behind other cancers in the application of computational pathology. The intent of this review is to encourage ovarian cancer research teams to apply existing and/or develop additional tools in computational pathology for ovarian cancer and actively contribute to advancing this important field.