This episode of Digital Pathology Today™ our guest is Keith Wharton, MD, PhD from Ultivue.

The big trend in oncology over the past few years has been immunotherapy. This trend is converging with the digital transformation we are undergoing in pathology. We seem to be at the crossroads of immune-oncology, digital pathology, image analysis, artificial intelligence, and the increasing ability to multiplex.

Our guest is Keith Wharton Jr., MD, PhD from Ultivue, a company looking to reveal actional biology through multiplex immunofluorescence to make immunotherapy a reality for patients with cancer. Keith is a board-certified anatomic pathologist with diverse achievements in research, drug/diagnostic development, and clinical investigation. He leads Ultivue’s Pathology and Biomarker Analytics team.

We’ll be discussing what is the need for multiplexing. How much information can multiplexing add above and beyond standard methods? When do we reach the point of diminishing returns? What are some challenges to implementation and risks of complexity and system failure? In addition, we will talk about specific applications in immune oncology for immunofluorescence and multiplexing versus the current state of the practice including immunohistochemistry and quantifying tumor infiltrating lymphocytes on good old-fashioned H&E sections.