Tissue Gnostics: Lymphoid Structures & Cancer

The webinar introduces Professor Danna Mesira Kva from the Medical University of Vienna and Anastasia Machuk from TissueGnostics. The presentation, originally recorded for the Eurobi Imaging user forum, focuses on immunology and will explore lymphoid structures and cancer.

Professor Kva's presentation focuses on the architectural complexity, functionality, and clinical relevance of lymphoid structures with germinal centers. It highlights the importance of understanding these structures in the context of cancer.

The research group's concept is based on systems biology and personalized medicine, emphasizing a holistic approach to understanding complex biological systems. Key research areas include B-cell biology, immunology, lymphoid structures, and cellular lipid systems in immunity and cancer.

Lymphoid structures are highly organized with functional cooperation of immune cells like B cells, follicular T helper cells, and follicular dendritic cells. Germinal centers within these structures are sites of B cell proliferation, differentiation, and antibody maturation. Activation-induced cytidine deaminase (AID) is a marker of active germinal centers.

The presence of B cells and ectopic lymphoid structures (ELS) is associated with favorable patient prognosis in several cancer types, including non-small cell lung cancer, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer with liver metastasis. Research has shown the accumulation of B cells and ELS around liver metastases in colorectal cancer.

The number of B cells and ELS at the tumor-liver border was quantified using tissue image cytometry. Higher numbers of B cells and ELS were associated with better clinical outcomes, surpassing the prognostic value of clinical pathological parameters.