Raman spectroscopy system for real-time diagnosis of clinically significant prostate cancer tissue.

Abstract

Prostate cancer is a significant healthcare problem worldwide. Current diagnosis and treatment methods are limited by a lack of precise in vivo tissue analysis methods. Real-time cancer identification and grading could dramatically improve current protocols. Here, we report the testing of a thin optical probe using Raman spectroscopy and classification methods to detect and grade prostate cancer accurately in real-time. We present the first clinical trial on fresh ex vivo biopsy cores from an 84-patient cohort. Findings from 2395 spectra measured on 599 biopsy cores show high accuracy for diagnosing and grading prostate cancer. We can detect clinically significant prostate cancer from benign and clinically insignificant prostate cancer with 90% sensitivity and 80.2% specificity. We also demonstrate the ability to differentiate cancer grades with 90% sensitivity and specificity ≥82.8%. This work demonstrates the utility of Raman spectroscopy for real-time prostate cancer detection and grading during routine transrectal biopsy appointments. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.