UCSF, Proscia partner to study the use of AI in prostate cancer diagnosis

The University of California San Francisco (UCSF) has partnered with Proscia, a leading provider of artificial intelligence (AI) enabled digital pathology solutions to deliver AI-enabled applications to improve the accuracy and speed of prostate cancer diagnosis.

This collaboration will first focus on validating the clinical use of digital pathology applications on prostate cancer. The research will then expand to cover other key areas of cancer diagnosis.

This collaboration stems from the need for new diagnostic methods and assessments used for diagnosing cancer.

Professor of pathology at the university, Zoltan Laszik said that Proscia’s work in digital pathology and the university’s high-quality data made the pairing a perfect fit.

This partnership will allow Proscia to confirm that their solutions can effectively speed up patient care and lead to a more accurate cancer diagnosis.

Laszik said that this partnership is in line with the university’s vision that prides itself as an institution that bridges the gap between research and clinical practice of medicine.

Moreover, this partnership supports the university as it continuously works to translate new discoveries into more effective prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of cancer.

As one of the earliest adopters of digital pathology for primary diagnosis, the university has collected volumes of diverse, high-quality digitised data, which will be mutually beneficial to both parties in this partnership.

This data provided by the university is initially being used to ensure that Proscia’s computational pathology application for prostate cancer accurately accounts for the variations that exist across a wide range of diagnoses, methods of biopsy and tissue preparation, tissue staining procedures, and digital scanning processes.

Proscia’s focus on delivering practical AI solutions strongly aligns with the university’s efforts by allowing both parties to collaborate to improve the routine pathology workflow.

Chief medical officer at Proscia, Mike Bonham commented on the current threat presented by prostate cancer, “As prostate cancer impacts millions of patients each year, it is critical that we improve productivity and confidence in this high-impact specialty.”

Currently, the standard of care for diagnosing this cancer relies on the pathologist’s assessment of tissue biopsies viewed under a microscope. This practice is subjective and inefficient in properly diagnosing cancer.

Prostate cancer diagnosis is especially problematic given its high slide-per-case volume, complex reporting requirements, and qualitative grading system, often leading to delayed turnaround times, increased use of ancillary tests, and reduced confidence in treatment decisions.

Bonham added that through this partnership, Proscia will be able to gain the data and experience required to ensure that the company’s AI delivers meaningful benefits in practice.

As digital pathology continues to gain traction, these deep learning-enabled applications will drive its adoption by unlocking new diagnostic information that furthers discovery and improves patient outcomes.