Inify Laboratories, Karolinska Institutet to Advance Prostate Cancer Diagnostics

Inify Laboratories is partnering with the ProMort research team at Karolinska Institutet to improve and transform prostate cancer diagnostics through artificial intelligence (AI)-driven image analysis.

“When our ProMort team started the discussions with Inify, we quickly realized the power of their organization and technology. A collaboration has great potential to further advance the important work of identifying markers to determine the degree of malignancy in prostate cancer, while also maintaining a high and consistent quality. I am delighted with this partnership and look forward to combining great AI models with talented people”, said Olof Akre, professor of Oncological Surgery at the Department of Molecular Medicine and Surgery at Karolinska Institutet. 

The ProMort program is a multi-disciplinary, international research project aiming to develop new, high-performing prognostic tools for prostate cancer that can be implemented in clinical practice and help tailoring the right treatment to the right patient. It aims to:

• Identify molecular factors associated with prostate cancer death, using tumor tissue from diagnostic biopsies
• Identify novel histopathological features associated with prostate cancer death using standard pathological review and AI
• Improve prognostication in prostate cancer by combining clinical variables with the outcomes of aims 1-2 in a new prognostic tool.

During the project, Inify’s AI development platform will be used to annotate different prostate cancer growth patterns with focus on cribriform structures, perineural invasion and reactive stroma. This will be used as an input to train AI models that can accurately identify and outline these structures and thereby speed up the diagnostic process as well as laying the foundation for a more streamlined result with less intra- and interobserver variation.

“The project is aligned with our vision to advance precision diagnostics within prostate cancer, and we are excited for the collaboration with such a reputable research group at Karolinska Institutet”, Inify Laboratories CEO Fredrik Palm stated.

“The ultimate ground truth for training diagnostic AI applications is patient outcome. This research project presents a unique opportunity to find hitherto undetected or unverified correlations between histopathological features and patient outcomes. We are proud to contribute to this important project that is very much in line with Inify’s own research strategy”, Inify Laboratories Chief Technology Officer Arto Järvinen added.

Inify Laboratories provides cancer diagnostics through ultramodern laboratory services within pathology. It uses a fully digital, standardized and AI- supported workflow to optimize quality and response times, initially within prostate. The concept is scalable and can be extended to other diagnoses. The service includes the entire chain of sample handling: from logistics, to sample preparation, to reporting by a pathologist. The report is assisted by the company’s own accurate AI, and the complete workflow is supported by a tailor-made process control system. The Swedish company became independent in 2022 through a spin-off from ContextVision, with 40 years of experience within digital imaging for medical applications. It is listed on Euronext Growth Oslo under the ticker INIFY.