An Approach toward Automatic Specifics Diagnosis of Breast Cancer Based on an Immunohistochemical Image

Abstract

The paper explored the problem of automatic diagnosis based on immunohistochemical image analysis. The issue of automated diagnosis is a preliminary and advisory statement for a diagnostician. The authors studied breast cancer histological and immunohistochemical images using the following biomarkers progesterone, estrogen, oncoprotein, and a cell proliferation biomarker. The authors developed a breast cancer diagnosis method based on immunohistochemical image analysis. The proposed method consists of algorithms for image preprocessing, segmentation, and the determination of informative indicators (relative area and intensity of cells) and an algorithm for determining the molecular genetic breast cancer subtype. An adaptive algorithm for image preprocessing was developed to improve the quality of the images. It includes median filtering and image brightness equalization techniques. In addition, the authors developed a software module part of the HIAMS software package based on the Java programming language and the OpenCV computer vision library. Four molecular genetic breast cancer subtypes could be identified using this solution: subtype Luminal A, subtype Luminal B, subtype HER2/neu amplified, and basalt-like subtype. The developed algorithm for the quantitative characteristics of the immunohistochemical images showed sufficient accuracy in determining the cancer subtype “Luminal A”. It was experimentally established that the relative area of the nuclei of cells covered with biomarkers of progesterone, estrogen, and oncoprotein was more than 85%. The given approach allows for automating and accelerating the process of diagnosis. Developed algorithms for calculating the quantitative characteristics of cells on immunohistochemical images can increase the accuracy of diagnosis.