In the press - Montreal scientists make breakthrough in prostate cancer research

03 September 2020

A team of researchers from the CHUM Research Centre and the Polytechnique Montreal have developed a new technique to improve detection of aggressive forms of prostate cancer.

Equipped with a Renishaw inVia™ Raman microscope, the team combined Raman microspectroscopy with machine learning techniques to analyse samples from 483 prostate cancer patients. They collected Raman spectra of the samples and then trained algorithms to automatically recognise and classify specific signatures of healthy tissue, intraductal carcinoma of the prostate, and other forms of prostate cancer.

“It's going to be easier to actually deal with the disease before it spreads and before it's generalised.” said Dominique Trudel, one of the researchers on the project.

The technique is being described as a game-changer in treating prostate cancer, it is faster and less expensive than current methods and has so far provided accurate diagnoses in nearly nine out of ten cases. Further tests are required to validate the technique before it can be used in a hospital setting.

Learn more

For the full news story: https://www.chumontreal.qc.ca/en/crchum/nouvelles/better-way-detect-prostate-cancer

CTV News coverage: https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/montreal-scientists-make-breakthrough-in-prostate-cancer-research-1.5069963

Research article: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7428053/