Discovery of tumour indicating morphological changes in benign prostate biopsies through AI

Abstract Diagnostic needle biopsies that miss clinically significant prostate cancer (PCa) often sample benign tissue near hidden cancers. Such benign samples might still display subtle morphological signs of cancer elsewhere in the prostate. This study examined if artificial intelligence (AI) could...

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Main Authors: Eduard Chelebian, Christophe Avenel, Helena Järemo, Pernilla Andersson, Anders Bergh, Carolina Wählby
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-08-01
Series:Scientific Reports
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-15105-6
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author Eduard Chelebian
Christophe Avenel
Helena Järemo
Pernilla Andersson
Anders Bergh
Carolina Wählby
author_facet Eduard Chelebian
Christophe Avenel
Helena Järemo
Pernilla Andersson
Anders Bergh
Carolina Wählby
author_sort Eduard Chelebian
collection DOAJ
description Abstract Diagnostic needle biopsies that miss clinically significant prostate cancer (PCa) often sample benign tissue near hidden cancers. Such benign samples might still display subtle morphological signs of cancer elsewhere in the prostate. This study examined if artificial intelligence (AI) could detect these morphological clues in benign biopsies from men with elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels to predict subsequent diagnosis of clinically significant PCa within 30 months. We analysed biopsies from 232 men initially diagnosed as benign, matched for age, diagnosis year, and PSA levels-half were later diagnosed with PCa, while the rest remained cancer-free for at least eight years. The AI model accurately predicted future PCa diagnosis from initial benign biopsies (AUC = 0.82), highlighting patterns such as changes in stromal collagen and altered glandular epithelial cells. This demonstrates that AI analysis of routine haematoxylin-eosin biopsy sections can detect subtle signs indicating clinically significant PCa before it becomes histologically apparent. Such morphological patterns shed light on the broader tissue alterations induced by prostate cancer, even in benign tissue, potentially enhancing early detection and clinical decision-making.
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institution Kabale University
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spelling doaj-art-6a625b9ab5274df8b09732f729b8dee72025-08-24T11:18:40ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222025-08-011511810.1038/s41598-025-15105-6Discovery of tumour indicating morphological changes in benign prostate biopsies through AIEduard Chelebian0Christophe Avenel1Helena Järemo2Pernilla Andersson3Anders Bergh4Carolina Wählby5Department of Information Technology and SciLifeLab, Uppsala UniversityDepartment of Information Technology and SciLifeLab, Uppsala UniversityDepartment of Medical Biosciences, Pathology, Umeå UniversityDepartment of Medical Biosciences, Pathology, Umeå UniversityDepartment of Medical Biosciences, Pathology, Umeå UniversityDepartment of Information Technology and SciLifeLab, Uppsala UniversityAbstract Diagnostic needle biopsies that miss clinically significant prostate cancer (PCa) often sample benign tissue near hidden cancers. Such benign samples might still display subtle morphological signs of cancer elsewhere in the prostate. This study examined if artificial intelligence (AI) could detect these morphological clues in benign biopsies from men with elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels to predict subsequent diagnosis of clinically significant PCa within 30 months. We analysed biopsies from 232 men initially diagnosed as benign, matched for age, diagnosis year, and PSA levels-half were later diagnosed with PCa, while the rest remained cancer-free for at least eight years. The AI model accurately predicted future PCa diagnosis from initial benign biopsies (AUC = 0.82), highlighting patterns such as changes in stromal collagen and altered glandular epithelial cells. This demonstrates that AI analysis of routine haematoxylin-eosin biopsy sections can detect subtle signs indicating clinically significant PCa before it becomes histologically apparent. Such morphological patterns shed light on the broader tissue alterations induced by prostate cancer, even in benign tissue, potentially enhancing early detection and clinical decision-making.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-15105-6
spellingShingle Eduard Chelebian
Christophe Avenel
Helena Järemo
Pernilla Andersson
Anders Bergh
Carolina Wählby
Discovery of tumour indicating morphological changes in benign prostate biopsies through AI
Scientific Reports
title Discovery of tumour indicating morphological changes in benign prostate biopsies through AI
title_full Discovery of tumour indicating morphological changes in benign prostate biopsies through AI
title_fullStr Discovery of tumour indicating morphological changes in benign prostate biopsies through AI
title_full_unstemmed Discovery of tumour indicating morphological changes in benign prostate biopsies through AI
title_short Discovery of tumour indicating morphological changes in benign prostate biopsies through AI
title_sort discovery of tumour indicating morphological changes in benign prostate biopsies through ai
url https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-15105-6
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