Spatial transcriptomics reveals strong association between SFRP4 and extracellular matrix remodeling in prostate cancer.

Prostate tumor heterogeneity is a major obstacle when studying the biological mechanisms of molecular markers. Increased gene expression levels of secreted frizzled-related protein 4 (SFRP4) is a biomarker in aggressive prostate cancer. To understand how SFRP4 relates to prostate cancer we performed comprehensive spatial and multiomics analysis of the same prostate cancer tissue samples.

The impact of pre-processing and disease characteristics on reproducibility of T2-weighted MRI radiomics features.

Purpose: To evaluate the reproducibility of radiomics features derived via different pre-processing settings from paired T2-weighted imaging (T2WI) prostate lesions acquired within a short interval, to select the setting that yields the highest number of reproducible features, and to evaluate the impact of disease characteristics (i.e., clinical variables) on features reproducibility.

Pseudo-T2 mapping for normalization of T2-weighted prostate MRI.

Objective: Signal intensity normalization is necessary to reduce heterogeneity in T2-weighted (T2W) magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) for quantitative analysis of multicenter data. AutoRef is an automated dual-reference tissue normalization method that normalizes transversal prostate T2W MRI by creating a pseudo-T2 map. The aim of this study was to evaluate the accuracy of pseudo-T2s and multicenter standardization performance for AutoRef with three pairs of reference tissues: fat/muscle (AutoRef), femoral head/muscle (AutoRef) and pelvic bone/muscle (AutoRef).

The Reproducibility of Deep Learning-Based Segmentation of the Prostate Gland and Zones on T2-Weighted MR Images.

Volume of interest segmentation is an essential step in computer-aided detection and diagnosis (CAD) systems. Deep learning (DL)-based methods provide good performance for prostate segmentation, but little is known about the reproducibility of these methods. In this work, an in-house collected dataset from 244 patients was used to investigate the intra-patient reproducibility of 14 shape features for DL-based segmentation methods of the whole prostate gland (WP), peripheral zone (PZ), and the remaining prostate zones (non-PZ) on T2-weighted (T2W) magnetic resonance (MR) images compared to manual segmentations.

Exploring the diagnostic potential of adding T2 dependence in diffusion-weighted MR imaging of the prostate.

Background: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is essential in the detection and staging of prostate cancer. However, improved tools to distinguish between low-risk and high-risk cancer are needed in order to select the appropriate treatment.

Purpose: To investigate the diagnostic potential of signal fractions estimated from a two-component model using combined T2- and diffusion-weighted imaging (T2-DWI).

A Quality Control System for Automated Prostate Segmentation on T2-Weighted MRI.

Computer-aided detection and diagnosis (CAD) systems have the potential to improve robustness and efficiency compared to traditional radiological reading of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Fully automated segmentation of the prostate is a crucial step of CAD for prostate cancer, but visual inspection is still required to detect poorly segmented cases. The aim of this work was therefore to establish a fully automated quality control (QC) system for prostate segmentation based on T2-weighted MRI.

Simultaneous F-fluciclovine Positron Emission Tomography and Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopic Imaging of Prostate Cancer.

To investigate the associations of metabolite levels derived from magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (MRSI) and F-fluciclovine positron emission tomography (PET) with prostate tissue characteristics. In a cohort of 19 high-risk prostate cancer patients that underwent simultaneous PET/MRI, we evaluated the diagnostic performance of MRSI and PET for discrimination of aggressive cancer lesions from healthy tissue and benign lesions. Data analysis comprised calculations of correlations of mean standardized uptake values (SUV), maximum SUV (SUV), and the MRSI-derived ratio of (total choline + spermine + creatine) to citrate (CSC/C).

Ex vivo metabolic fingerprinting identifies biomarkers predictive of prostate cancer recurrence following radical prostatectomy.

This corrects the article DOI: 10.1038/bjc.2017.

F-Fluciclovine PET/MRI for preoperative lymph node staging in high-risk prostate cancer patients.

Objective: To investigate the diagnostic potential of simultaneous F-fluciclovine PET/MRI for pelvic lymph node (LN) staging in patients with high-risk prostate cancer.

Methods: High-risk prostate cancer patients (n=28) underwent simultaneous F-fluciclovine PET/MRI prior to surgery. LNs were removed according to a predefined template of eight regions.

SFRP4 gene expression is increased in aggressive prostate cancer.

Increased knowledge of the molecular differences between indolent and aggressive prostate cancer is needed for improved risk stratification and treatment selection. Secreted frizzled-related protein 4 (SFRP4) is a modulator of the cancer-associated Wnt pathway, and previously suggested as a potential marker for prostate cancer aggressiveness. In this study, we investigated and validated the association between SFRP4 gene expression and aggressiveness in nine independent cohorts (n = 2157).

Combined F-Fluciclovine PET/MRI Shows Potential for Detection and Characterization of High-Risk Prostate Cancer.

The objective of this study was to investigate whether quantitative imaging features derived from combined F-fluciclovine PET/multiparametric MRI show potential for detection and characterization of primary prostate cancer. Twenty-eight patients diagnosed with high-risk prostate cancer underwent simultaneous F-fluciclovine PET/MRI before radical prostatectomy. Volumes of interest (VOIs) for prostate tumors, benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) nodules, prostatitis, and healthy tissue were delineated on T2-weighted images, using histology as a reference.

Ex vivo metabolic fingerprinting identifies biomarkers predictive of prostate cancer recurrence following radical prostatectomy.

Background: Robust biomarkers that identify prostate cancer patients with high risk of recurrence will improve personalised cancer care. In this study, we investigated whether tissue metabolites detectable by high-resolution magic angle spinning magnetic resonance spectroscopy (HR-MAS MRS) were associated with recurrence following radical prostatectomy.

Methods: We performed a retrospective ex vivo study using HR-MAS MRS on tissue samples from 110 radical prostatectomy specimens obtained from three different Norwegian cohorts collected between 2002 and 2010.

Geometric distortion correction in prostate diffusion-weighted MRI and its effect on quantitative apparent diffusion coefficient analysis.

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of correction for B inhomogeneity-induced geometric distortion in echo-planar diffusion-weighted imaging on quantitative apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) analysis in multiparametric prostate MRI.

Methods: Geometric distortion correction was performed in echo-planar diffusion-weighted images (b = 0, 50, 400, 800 s/mm ) of 28 patients, using two b scans with opposing phase-encoding polarities. Histology-matched tumor and healthy tissue volumes of interest delineated on T -weighted images were mapped to the nondistortion-corrected and distortion-corrected data sets by resampling with and without spatial coregistration.

A novel non-canonical Wnt signature for prostate cancer aggressiveness.

Activation of the Canonical Wnt pathway (CWP) has been linked to advanced and metastatic prostate cancer, whereas the Wnt5a-induced non-canonical Wnt pathway (NCWP) has been associated with both good and poor prognosis. A newly discovered NCWP, Wnt5/Fzd2, has been shown to induce epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in cancers, but has not been investigated in prostate cancer. The aim of this study was to investigate if the CWP and NCWP, in combination with EMT, are associated with metabolic alterations, aggressive disease and biochemical recurrence in prostate cancer.

A PET/MRI study towards finding the optimal [F]Fluciclovine PET protocol for detection and characterisation of primary prostate cancer.

Purpose: [F]Fluciclovine PET imaging shows promise for the assessment of prostate cancer. The purpose of this PET/MRI study is to optimise the PET imaging protocol for detection and characterisation of primary prostate cancer, by quantitative evaluation of the dynamic uptake of [F]Fluciclovine in cancerous and benign tissue.

Methods: Patients diagnosed with high-risk primary prostate cancer underwent an integrated [F]Fluciclovine PET/MRI exam before robot-assisted radical prostatectomy with extended pelvic lymph node dissection.

Presence of TMPRSS2-ERG is associated with alterations of the metabolic profile in human prostate cancer.

TMPRSS2-ERG has been proposed to be a prognostic marker for prostate cancer. The aim of this study was to identify changes in metabolism, genes and biochemical recurrence related to TMPRSS2-ERG by using an integrated approach, combining metabolomics, transcriptomics, histopathology and clinical data in a cohort of 129 human prostate samples (41 patients). Metabolic analyses revealed lower concentrations of citrate and spermine comparing ERGhigh to ERGlow samples, suggesting an increased cancer aggressiveness of ERGhigh compared to ERGlow.