Generalisation of automatic tumour segmentation in histopathological whole-slide images across multiple cancer types
Deep learning is expected to aid pathologists in tasks such as tumour segmentation. We developed a general tumour segmentation model for histopathological images and examined its performance in different cancer types. The model was developed using over 20,000 whole-slide images from over 4000 patients with colorectal, endometrial, lung, or prostate carcinoma. Performance was validated in pre-planned analyses on external cohorts with over 3000 patients across six cancer types. Exploratory analyses included over 1500 additional patients from The Cancer Genome Atlas. Average Dice coefficient was over 80% in all validation cohorts with en bloc resection specimens and in The Cancer Genome Atlas cohorts. No performance loss was observed when comparing the general model with single-cancer models specialised in cancer types from the development set. In conclusion, extensive and rigorous evaluations demonstrate that generic tumour segmentation by a single model is possible across cancer types, patient populations, sample preparations and slide scanners.
Authors
- Ljiljana Vlatkovic
- Tarjei S. Hveem
- Gunnar B. Kristensen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6231-7247)
- Bjørn Brennhovd
- Elin Richardsen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2896-7910)
- Erik Skaaheim Haug (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2029-1901)
- Emma Rewcastle (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8943-3739)
- David Kerr (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7811-6722)
- Vebjørn Kvikstad (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2980-8217)
- Fritz Albregtsen
- Knut Liestøl (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7929-582X)
- Melinda Lillesand (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8898-1330)
- Ole-Johan Skrede (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4783-717X)
- Maria Xepapadakis Isaksen
- Lill‐Tove Busund (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8235-6163)
- Andreas Kleppe
- Odd Terje Brustugun
- Manohar Pradhan
- Arild Nesbakken
- Jenneke Kasius
- Alain G. Zeimet
- Emiel Janssen
- Kristina Lindemann
Institutions
- Oslo University Hospital (NO)
- University Hospital of North Norway (NO)
- Innsbruck Medical University (AT)
- University of Oslo (NO)
- Stavanger University Hospital (NO)
- Drammen Hospital (NO)
- Sykehuset i Vestfold (NO)
- University of Oxford (GB)
- UiT The Arctic University of Norway (NO)
- University of Amsterdam (NL)
- University of Stavanger (NO)
Publication Details
- Journal
- npj Precision Oncology
- Published
- 2026-02-03
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41698-026-01311-6
- Primary Topic
- AI in cancer detection
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Norges Forskningsråd
- Akershus Universitetssykehus
- Sykehuset i Vestfold