Flagship and University of Utah publish article on evaluating the plasma cell distribution with the bone marrow vascular niche
Boulder, CO – Sept. 16 2013 – In multiple myeloma, bone marrow angiogenesis is typically increased and microvessel density (MVD) is a known indicator of poor prognosis. The technical difficulties associated with consistently measuring three dimensional vessels from two dimensional cut histology sections has limited the clinical utility of microvessel density measurement (MVD). In a study by clinicians and scientists at the University of Utah, ARUP Reference Lab Research Institute, and Flagship Biosciences, a new image analysis approach utilized vessel proximity rather than traditional vascular counting methods. A multiplexed immunohistochemistry stain labeled vascular cells (endothelial cells) with a CD34 marker and a CD138 marker labeled myeloma cells. By mapping all tumor cells and all vessels across each bone marrow section, myeloma cells could be classified as to their proximity to a vascular matrix. This study provides an important advance in understanding and quantifying the microenvironment in bone marrow biopsies.
The publication, “AngioMap is a Novel Image Analysis Algorithm for Assessment of Plasma Cell Distribution Within Bone Marrow Vascular Niche“, is available in the August 2013 issue of Applied Immunohistochemistry and Molecular Morphology Journal.
Read more about Flagship’s approaches to microvessel measurement and angiogenesis analysis in the following links:
