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Updated: Oct 23, 2025

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Multiplexed Immunofluorescence Analysis and Quantification of Intratumoral PD-1+ Tim-3+ CD8+ T Cells
Published on: February 8, 2018
14.9K
Interpretable systems biomarkers predict response to immune-checkpoint inhibitors
Óscar Lapuente-Santana1, Maisa van Genderen1, Peter A J Hilbers1
1Department of Biomedical Engineering, Eindhoven University of Technology, 5612 AZ Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
Patterns (New York, N.Y.)
|August 25, 2021
Summary
This study introduces EaSIeR, a novel RNA-sequencing analysis method. EaSIeR quantifies tumor immune microenvironments to predict immunotherapy outcomes, aiding cancer treatment strategies.
Area of Science:
- Computational biology
- Immunology
- Cancer research
Background:
- Tumor cells evade immune detection through complex mechanisms.
- The tumor microenvironment's complexity hinders biomarker discovery for immunotherapy.
- Existing methods struggle to capture the dynamic immune landscape within tumors.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop a systems-based approach for analyzing the tumor immune microenvironment.
- To quantify immune cell composition and intercellular communication from RNA-seq data.
- To predict immunotherapy efficacy using interpretable biomarkers.
Main Methods:
- Utilized RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) data integrated with prior knowledge.
- Applied multi-task learning to derive system-based signatures of the tumor microenvironment.
- Developed a method named Estimate Systems Immune Response (EaSIeR) for predicting immune response hallmarks.
Main Results:
- EaSIeR accurately quantifies immune cell composition and communication.
- Cancer-type-specific models were generated based on interpretable systems biomarkers.
- The EaSIeR method successfully predicted therapeutic outcomes in patients treated with PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors.
Conclusions:
- EaSIeR provides a holistic description of immune responses in tumors using RNA-seq data.
- This method offers a valuable tool for understanding tumor-immune interactions.
- EaSIeR has the potential to improve patient stratification and guide immunotherapy decisions.

