Men assessed as healthy after a pathologist analyses their tissue sample may still have an early form of prostate cancer. Using AI, researchers at Uppsala University have been able to find subtle tissue changes that allow the cancer to be detected long before it becomes visible to the human eye.
Previous research has demonstrated that AI is able to detect tissue changes indicative of cancer. In the current study, published in Scientific Reports, the researchers show that AI can also find cancers missed by pathologists.
“The study has been nicknamed the ‘missed study’, as the goal of finding the cancer was ‘missed’ by the pathologists. We have now shown that with the help of AI, it is possible to find signs of prostate cancer that were not observed by pathologists in more than 80 per cent of samples from men who later developed cancer,” says Carolina Wählby, who led the AI development in the study.
The project is based on a collaboration with Umeå University, where the researchers collected samples from men called for sample-taking over a number of years. All 232 men in the study were assessed as healthy when their biopsies were examined by pathologists. After less than two-and-a-half years, half of the men in the study had developed aggressive prostate cancer, while the rest were still cancer-free eight years later.
AI trained to detect signs of cancer
As all tissue samples were initially assessed as negative, the researchers developed a new way to train the AI tool. It was trained by analysing each biopsy image bit by bit, with the assumption that abnormal patterns ought to be present somewhere in the biopsies that came from patients who later developed aggressive cancer, while the other images should not contain such patterns. The AI was then tested on an independent set of images.
When we looked at the patterns that the AI ranked as informative, we saw changes in the tissue surrounding the glands in the prostate – changes also observed in other studies. This shows that AI analysis of routine biopsies can detect subtle signs indicating clinically significant prostate cancer before it becomes obvious to a pathologist.”
Carolina Wählby
The researchers suggest that this type of analysis could be used to decide how soon men who have been assessed as healthy should be followed up. The imaging data collected and the researchers’ methods are openly available for further research and development.
Chelebian, E., et al. (2025). Discovery of tumour indicating morphological changes in benign prostate biopsies through AI. Scientific Reports. doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-15105-6.
News
Micro-drones fly through the body thanks to ultrasound
At the EPFL, micro-drones have been developed that can be moved without a motor or battery.No motors, no batteries, no electronics on board, just small cavities that convert sound waves into thrust: this is [...]
A Single Enzyme Could Hold the Key to Treating a Devastating Brain Disorder
Blocking an enzyme’s production restored brain growth and healthy behaviors in mice engineered to develop Angelman syndrome, pointing to a possible treatment target. Children with Angelman syndrome begin to show difficulties with thinking and [...]
Scientists Develop a Clever New Way To Kill Cancer Cells From the Inside
Scientists have developed an experimental strategy that exploits a chemical byproduct of cancer cells to produce anticancer drugs directly inside them. Scientists in Japan have developed an experimental method that uses a chemical produced [...]
Our books are available worldwide!
Online Sellers other than Amazon, Routledge, and IOPP Indigo Global Health Care Equivalency in the Age of Nanotechnology, Nanomedicine and Artifcial Intelligence Global Health Care Equivalency In The Age Of Nanotechnology, Nanomedicine And Artificial [...]
After only a short training, people in a coma managed to send targeted signals
Researchers have succeeded in communicating with brain-injured patients who are unconscious. They see enormous potential in this for future treatments. Patients who lie motionless in bed after a severe brain injury and do not [...]
MIT Scientists Reprogram Immune Cells Inside the Body To Destroy Cancer
Natural killer cells reprogrammed inside mice eliminated lymphoma tumors and helped damaged livers heal, though whether this approach could help people with cancer or autoimmune disease remains unknown. To make a cancer treatment from [...]
Melanoma mRNA Vaccine Shows Promise in Preventing Disease Recurrence
Key takeaways: Phase 3 trial finds personalized intismeran plus pembrolizumab may better prevent high-risk melanoma recurrence after surgery The trial enrolled 1,137 patients and builds on phase 2 results showing about half the recurrence [...]
Scientists Discover a Powerful New Weapon Against a Dangerous Gut Infection
The promise of an experimental treatment for C. difficile gut infections lies partly in the bacteria it leaves alive, according to early laboratory and mouse research. Broad-spectrum antibiotics can disrupt the gut’s microbial community, [...]
Your Bones May Hold a Hidden Clue to Blood Cancer Survival
For people with blood cancers called myelodysplastic syndromes, osteoporosis may hold an overlooked clue to survival, a three-year observational study suggests. In blood cancers that develop in the bone marrow, an important clue to [...]
Researchers Discover What Reading for Pleasure May Be Doing to Your Brain
Reading for pleasure may offer surprising benefits for the brain, with research linking the habit to better mental health, stronger cognitive abilities, and a lower risk of dementia. Reading for pleasure may do far [...]
Scientists Discover a Hidden Trigger That Keeps Inflammation Alive
Inflammation persists after proteins detach from immune receptors, revealing a potential target for autoimmune treatments. Since a Nobel Prize-winning discovery in the 1990s identified molecules called Toll-like Receptors as the guardians of the human [...]
A Virus Gives Itself Away the Moment It Attacks
Researchers have found the trigger behind a powerful bacterial defense against viruses. Viruses that prey on bacteria could become an increasingly important tool for treating bacterial infections, particularly as antibiotic resistance makes some infections [...]
Scientists Discover Aspirin May Slash Dementia Risk by 70% – but Only for Certain People
Aspirin was linked to a sharply lower dementia risk in some older adults, and their genes may hold the clue. A Monash University analysis found that older adults with a particular genetic profile had [...]
Inflammation May Awaken Dormant Cancer Cells Years After Treatment
The body’s response to inflammation may disturb cancer cells that have been lying silent for years, giving them an opportunity to grow again. Researchers at the Francis Crick Institute have found that gut inflammation [...]
Where do nanoparticles go once they enter the body?
New international best practice guidance, co-written at ANSTO, sets out how to measure where nanoparticles like titanium dioxide end up in the body and how long they remain. The guidance has been shared by [...]
Long-Acting HIV Shots Could Solve a Major Treatment Challenge for Young People
A major African trial suggests that changing how HIV treatment is delivered could significantly improve viral suppression in adolescents. Young people with HIV were more likely to keep the virus suppressed when they received [...]
