The most common cancer among men is not a single disease

Scientists have used artificial intelligence to discover that prostate cancer is not one disease, but two different forms.

This study was conducted by researchers at the University of Oxford and the University of Manchester Potential avenues for personalized treatments.

Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer among men, with about 52,000 cases diagnosed annually. However, traditional approaches have treated it as a uniform disease.

The innovative use of artificial intelligence in this study challenged this idea by analyzing DNA changes in prostate cancer samples from 159 patients. Using whole genome sequencing, a process that identifies the unique DNA “fingerprint” of organisms, the researchers identified two distinct groups of cancer in patient samples.

Prostate tumors have different developmental trajectories, leading to the formation of different versions of the disease Eventually merging into two separate branches, called patterns. This discovery, validated through different mathematical methodologies, represents the first case of differentiating cancer types using artificial intelligence.

the study, published It was recently published in the journal Cell Genomics and funded by Cancer Research UK It is very promising for the diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer. In particular, it can help identify less aggressive patterns, saving patients from unnecessary treatments and potential side effects, such as urinary incontinence and impotence.

Moreover, the application of artificial intelligence in prostate cancer diagnosis opens the way to personalized treatments based on individual genetic tests.

Colin Cooper, from Norwich Medical School, said: “We hope the findings will not only save lives through better diagnostics and personalized treatments in the future, but could also help researchers working in other areas of cancer to better understand other types of cancer.” , according to BBC Science Focus.