Artificial Intelligence in Medicine: Multiple Applications for AI in Prostate Cancer

November 2025 saw the publication of “Artificial Intelligence Across the Prostate Cancer Pathway: Screening, Imaging, Pathology, and Biomarkers”^[i],  an article that identifies and explains four areas in which Artificial Intelligence (AI) offers benefits in clinical areas of prostate cancer (PCa). These areas are

• PCa screening and early detection
• Diagnostic imaging
• Histopathology and biomarker analysis
• Treatment planning and optimization

Keeping in mind that the sooner and more accurately PCa is diagnosed, the greater the chances for treatment matching and success. Here’s a closer look at each area.

AI in PCa screening and early detection

Conventional screening using the PSA test is inexpensive and universally available, but since it is not specific only for PCa it leads to overuse of biopsy (with its own inaccuracy and side effect risks). AI has shown improved sensitivity and specificity when applied to micro-ultrasound and MRI.

Also, AI programs have been shown to pick up genomic clues from blood tests to help with very early risk stratification. Not only can this reduce unnecessary biopsies, it provides information that can be factored in if a biopsy is positive for PCa.

Diagnostic imaging

As our previous blogs have reported, when AI is combined with multiparametric MRI, it can achieve diagnostic performance comparable to expert radiologists, at times even superior. Citing several recent studies, the authors demonstrate that not only does AI boost diagnostic accuracy, it maintains consistent performance across readers and MRI centers.

Histopathology and biomarker analysis

The days are fast disappearing when a human pathologist peered into a microscope at a biopsy slide, identified PCa cells, and assigned a Gleason grade. This is time consuming and there is risk of human error. Now, write the authors, “AI for prostate histology delivers good-to-excellent diagnostic performance and can streamline slide screening; multiple included studies report accuracies exceeding 90%.”

At an even deeper level, AI can gain very detailed information about the nature of each patient’s cancer. There are many different lines of PCa cells and they don’t all behave the same way. AI speeds up the identification of “signatures” at the molecular level that warn of more dangerous cell behavior. “Reviews of AI in pathology further show how automated image analysis and machine learning can enhance biomarker quantification and evaluation, supporting precision pathology and paving the way for patient-specific risk models and therapy optimization.”

Treatment planning and optimization

Given all the ways in which AI assists in precise information, it makes sense that AI becomes a valuable assistant in strategizing treatment. According to the authors, it is already proving its worth in a number of ways:

1. Calculating tumor contours and radiation doses to improve radiation success with reduced side effects to nearby healthy tissue
2. Selecting appropriate candidates for focal therapy, and targeting ablation for tailored tumor destruction
3. Planning surgery (nerve-sparing or wider surgical margins) for prostatectomy procedures, especially robot-assisted
4. For advanced PCa, AI helps establish delivery of systemic treatment (hormones, immunotherapy, chemotherapy) by recommending “optimal combinations and sequence adjustments”
5. Early monitoring after treatment for responses that are less effective than desired, so timely clinical intervention can increase chances for success and improve survival.

Conclusion

AI is still very much a work in progress, but it is already contributing to more accurate screening and early detection, more precise diagnostics (imaging, genomics, pathology), and tailored treatment planning. In addition, it increases speed and efficiency of these clinical tasks. As the authors write, “AI can reduce unnecessary biopsies, shorten reporting time, and enable more personalized care.”

With ongoing research and development, as well as consensus guidelines for ethical use, it is expected that AI will continue to increase its value for doctors and patients in the world of prostate cancer.

NOTE: This content is solely for purposes of information and does not substitute for diagnostic or medical advice. Talk to your doctor if you are experiencing pelvic pain, or have any other health concerns or questions of a personal medical nature.

References

[i] Hasan M, Ibraheem N, Rahman M, et al. (November 06, 2025) Artificial Intelligence Across the Prostate Cancer Pathway: Screening, Imaging, Pathology, and Biomarkers. Cureus 17(11): e96226. doi:10.7759/cureus.96226