Table 2 Analysis of different particle count cut-offs (≥ 2 to ≥ 10).

From: Tumour area infiltration and cell count in endoscopic biopsies of therapy-naive upper GI tract carcinomas by QuPath analysis: implications for predictive biomarker testing

 

Cut-off (tissue particle count, n ≥ x)

10

9

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

Cases (% of all cases)

45 (17.8%)

53 (20.9%)

79 (31.2%)

102 (40.3%)

134 (53%)

176 (69.6%)

217 (85.8%)

245 (96.8%)

251 (99.2%)

Cases tiA ≥ 4.5mm2 (% of fraction)

39 (86.7%)

45 (84.9%)

62 (78.5%)

76 (74.5%)

99 (73.9%)

120 (68.2%)

140 (64.5%)

152 (62%)

155 (61.8%)

Per case, mean (± SD)

Tissue particles

12 (± 3)

11.6 (± 3)

10.4 (± 3)

9.6 (± 3)

8.8 (± 3)

7.9 (± 3.1)

7.1 (± 3.2)

6.7 (± 3.3)

6.6 (± 3.3)

Tumor-bearing tissue particles

8.2 (± 3.8)

7.9 (± 3.6)

7.2 (± 3.3)

6.6 (± 3.2)

6.2 (± 2.9)

5.6 (± 2.8)

5.1 (± 2.8)

4.8 (± 2.8)

4.7 (± 2.8)

Tumor-infiltrated area (tiA)

10.5 (± 6.6)

10.4 (± 6.4)

9.5 (± 6.3)

9.1 (± 6.6)

8.8 (± 6.3)

8.5 (± 7.2)

7.8 (± 6.9)

7.6 (± 6.7)

7.5 (± 6.7)

Tumor cell count (tcN)

18,131 (± 17,973)

17,573 (± 16,902)

17,234 (± 16,986)

16,085 (± 15,788)

15,590 (± 14,902)

14,768 (± 14,591)

14,241 (± 14,700)

13,738 (± 14,330)

13,558 (± 14,220)

Tumor cell count per tumor-bearing particle

2242 (± 1944)

2244 (± 1834)

2350 (± 1977)

2408 (± 1914)

2484 (± 1965)

2621 (± 2151)

2852 (± 2769)

2981 (± 2948)

3016 (± 2987)

  1. Since the counts of all tissue particles per case and the count of tumor-bearing particles per case are both dependent and positive correlated, a higher cut-off is associated with more tumor-bearing particles. The tumor-infiltrated area (tiA) and the tumor cell count (tcN) are only weakly correlated to the tissue particle count. A higher cut-off is associated only with an low increase in tiA and tcN. Interestingly, the count of tumor cells per tumor-bearing particle even decreases with higher cut-offs.
Back to article page