The Future of Bone Marrow Tissue Analysis in Hematologic Diseases

Sanjay Patel, MD, of Weill Cornell Medical College, discusses the motivations, goals, and protocols of a trial that studied spatial mapping of human hematopoiesis using bone marrow tissue.

“This study was born out of an interest in studying human bone marrow tissue using more sophisticated tools and techniques and forms of data analysis than we have been using historically,” he began.

Bone marrow tissue is reviewed as part of routine clinical diagnostics for both malignant and nonmalignant conditions, including leukemias, lymphomas, myeloproliferative neoplasms, and multiple myeloma, according to Dr. Patel.

“The goal of the study was to demonstrate that we can use those types of tissues and identify many different cell types using antibodies and fluorescence labeling, image the tissue using a slide scanning technique, and then use data science with artificial intelligence to identify where all potential cells of interest are located,” Dr. Patel explained.

Once these cells are located, the next step is determining the relationships between them, where they lie next to one another, and whether those factors have biological clinical implications.

The study also lays the foundation for ongoing and future investigation using this tissue type and similar technique in hematologic diseases, most notably myelodysplastic syndromes, in which evaluating bone marrow tissue remains the gold standard for analysis.

“One of the promising aspects of this particular approach is that we utilized a tissue staining and imaging protocol that’s been around for at least 10 years now,” he said. “We have potential to bring this into the next century with the way we analyze these tissues to help patients and guide therapy.”