High-content multiplexed tissue imaging and quantification for cancer drug discovery

Targeting multiple hallmarks of cancer with drug combinations may provide unique opportunities for cancer therapeutics; however, phenotypic quantification is necessary to understand in vivo mechanisms of action of each drug alone or in combination. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) can quantify phenotypic changes, but traditional methods are not amenable for high-throughput drug discovery. In this article, we describe a high-content method to quantify changes in tumor angiogenesis, vascular normalization, hypoxia, tumor cell proliferation, and apoptosis using IHC. This method to quantify tumor model phenotypes can be useful for cancer drug discovery by increasing the understanding of: (i) tumor models used in efficacy studies, (ii) changes occurring during the growth of the tumor, and (iii) novel mechanisms of actions of cancer therapeutics.

► High-content multiplexed methods to quantify immunohistochemistry. ► Quantification of tumor angiogenesis and vascular normalization. ► Quantification of tumor associated hypoxia, proliferation and apoptosis. ► Phenotypic characterization of multiple tumor models. ► Multiplexed tissue imaging to define mechanisms of actions of cancer therapeutics.