Quantitative grading of tissue and nuclei in prostate cancer for prognosis prediction

Prostate cancer is evidenced by profound histological, cellular, and nuclear changes in the organization of the prostate. Histological assessment of prostate tissue taken from surgically removed turners has traditionally relied on visual pathological interpretation The principal classification scheme used in visual pathology of the prostate, Gleason grading, has proven successful in characterizing the state of disease but has had limited prognostic value. We are conducting studies that aim to provide quantitative measures of disease state to improve prognosis prediction. Our findings show that the orientational distribution of tumor cells, often assumed to be isotropic, can play a significant role in statistical studies of intranuclear DNA organization. Inclusion of anatomical factors in the selection of reference frames for measurements of intranuclear DNA can improve the statistical power of cytometric studies and may provide a unifying framework for relating histological, morphometric, and intranuclear descriptions of prostate tumors.