Robert Veltri, Ph.D., has developed two new “high-throughput” tools aimed at identifying aggressive prostate cancer and predicting prostate cancer’s progression even when the disease is in the early stages. “The biomarkers development tool is a combination of tissue microarray and multiple tissue immunoblotting.” Using tissue samples from men who have undergone radical prostatectomy, “with this tool, we developed a panel of six biomarkers that could predict aggressive prostate cancer.” And looking at biopsies from men in active surveillance, “we could identify potentially aggressive cancer requiring immediate treatment.” This research was published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention.

In other work: If two pathologists were looking at the same prostate tissue samples, one might see cancer and another one might not. “The diagnosis is relatively subjective,” says Veltri. To help with accurate analysis, Veltri’s lab developed a computer program “that can accurately and automatically quantify the morphometric changes of hundreds to thousands of nuclei within the cancer area. Our results have showed its potential use not only in the improvement of diagnosis, but also in the prediction of aggressiveness of prostate cancer.”