Utility of Effusion Cytology and Image Analysis in the Diagnosis of Mesothelioma

描述（由申请人提供）：间皮瘤是一种罕见的，但往往致命的疾病，往往与接触石棉。恶性间皮瘤与良性间皮瘤的鉴别通常通过评估活检标本的组织学检查的组织侵袭性来实现。胸腔积液（肺和胸壁之间的液体）细胞学检查通常是一种侵入性较小的程序，可在大多数医院提供。由于无法评估组织的侵袭性，因此从细胞学标本中诊断这种恶性肿瘤通常是不可能的。我们的提案详细介绍了一个试点项目，将与宾夕法尼亚州西部卫生系统病理学和实验室医学系统主席（Jan F. Silverman，M.D.），以及克利夫兰诊所的解剖病理学医学主任（Tarik M。Elsheikh，医学博士）测试最近由卡内基梅隆大学（CMU）Rohde博士实验室开发的图像分析方法，用于直接从胸腔积液细胞学检测癌症。Rohde博士的方法应用于Silverman博士提供的数据（在应用程序中详细说明）的初步结果表明，该方法可能有助于诊断恶性间皮瘤。该试点研究的目的是测试罗德博士的实验室开发的方法的准确性，在区分恶性间皮瘤从良性间皮瘤增殖直接从渗出液细胞学与一个更大的队列的患者从两个 机构（WPAHS和CC）。如果成功，该项目的完成可能会对降低总体成本和避免与侵入性手术相关的健康风险产生重大影响。该项目的成功完成也为类似技术在几个类似的细胞病理学诊断和预后挑战中的应用铺平了道路。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Mesothelioma is a rare though often fatal disease, often associated with exposure to asbestos. The differentiation of malignant mesothelioma from benign mesothelial proliferation is often achieved by assessing tissue invasiveness from histological examination of biopsy specimens. Pleural effusion (fluid between lung and the chest wall) cytology is often a less invasive procedure that can be made available in most hospitals. Diagnosis of this malignancy from cytology specimens is often not possible, given that tissue invasiveness cannot be assessed. Our proposal details a pilot project to be conducted in collaboration with the System Chair of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine of Western Pennsylvania Health System (Jan F. Silverman, M.D.), as well as the Anatomic Pathology Medical Director of the Cleveland Clinic (Tarik M. Elsheikh, M.D.) to test an image analysis approach most recently developed by Dr. Rohde's laboratory at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) for cancer detection directly from pleural effusion cytology. Preliminary results resulting from the application of Dr. Rohde's methods to data provided by Dr. Silverman (detailed in the application) indicates the method can potentially be useful for diagnosis of malignant mesothelioma. The objective of the pilot study would be to test the accuracy of the method developed by Dr. Rohde's laboratory in differentiating malignant mesothelioma from benign mesothelial proliferation directly from effusion cytology with a larger cohort of patients from two institutions (WPAHS and CC). If successful, the completion of the project could have a significant impact in reducing overall costs and avoiding health risks associated with invasive procedures. The successful completion of this project could also pave the way for the application of similar techniques on several similar cytopathology diagnostic and prognostic challenges.