Prostate cancer generally has an excellent prognosis, with a five-year survival rate of 91%. However, a subgroup of patients has a much higher risk of recurrence: those with intraductal prostate carcinoma. This particular form, which develops in the ducts of the prostate gland, remains difficult to identify and treat. Dominique Trudel, a pathologist at the CHUM Research Center, has made this challenge her main focus of research in order to understand why these patients have a less favorable prognosis and to find strategies to improve their care.
To address these issues, the researcher has taken a resolutely interdisciplinary approach, bringing together pathologists, engineers, and radiation oncologists. Her work has led to the development of an innovative method for identifying intraductal carcinoma under a microscope using Raman spectroscopy, which has been widely disseminated and won an award in 2020. Her team has also described histological characteristics that distinguish the most aggressive cases and identified the role of certain immune cells in the progression of the disease. At the same time, collaboration with engineer Frédéric Leblond has led to the development of a Raman spectroscopy probe integrated into surgical robots and radiotherapy systems, which can detect the presence of prostate cancer in tissue in real time. The researcher is also interested in the socioeconomic determinants of cancer, to ensure that her research results are representative of all patients.
The benefits of this work are manifold. In the short term, it helps raise awareness in the medical community about the importance of intraductal carcinoma and improve diagnostic accuracy. In the longer term, it paves the way for targeted therapeutic strategies, such as adjuvant radiotherapy, to counteract the resistance to treatment observed in this type of cancer. Finally, a structural impact has already materialized, leading to the creation of a master’s program in pathology and cellular biology, with a concentration in molecular histopathology. This program is training a new generation of researchers capable of interpreting histological slides and strengthening the dialogue between basic sciences, medicine, and technology, thereby contributing to the long-term enrichment of biomedical research in Quebec.
References
Grosset, A.-A., Dallaire, F., Nguyen, T., Birlea, M., Wong, J., Daoust, F., Roy, N., Kougioumoutzakis, A., Azzi, F., Aubertin, K., Kadoury, S., Latour, M., Albadine, R., Prendeville, S., Boutros, P., Fraser, M., Bristow, R. G., van der Kwast, T., Orain, M., Brisson, H., Benzerdjeb, N., Hovington, H., Bergeron, A., Fradet, Y., Têtu, B., Saad, F., Leblond, F., et Trudel, D. (2020). Identification of intraductal carcinoma of the prostate on tissue specimens using Raman micro-spectroscopy: A diagnostic accuracy case-control study with multicohort validation. PLOS Medicine, 17(8), e1003281. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.1003281
Diop, M.-K., Molina, O. E., Birlea, M., LaRue, H., Hovington, H., Têtu, B., Lacombe, L., Bergeron, A., Fradet, Y., et Trudel, D. (2023). Leukocytic infiltration of intraductal carcinoma of the prostate: An exploratory study. Cancers, 15(8), 2217. https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers15082217
Aubertin, K., Trinh, V. Q., Jermyn, M., Baksic, P., Grosset, A.-A., Desroches, J., St-Arnaud, K., Birlea, M., Vladoiu, M. C., Latour, M., Albadine, R., Saad, F., Leblond, F., et Trudel, D. (2018). Mesoscopic characterization of prostate cancer using Raman spectroscopy: Potential for diagnostics and therapeutics. BJU International, 122(1), 326-335. https://doi.org/10.1111/bju.14199