Computer-Aided Image Analysis and Fractal Synthesis in the Quantitative Evaluation of Tumor Aggressiveness in...

The subjective evaluation of tumor aggressiveness is a cornerstone of the contemporary tumor pathology. A large intra- and interobserver variability is a known limiting factor of this approach. This fundamental weakness influences the statistical deterministic models of progression risk assessment. It is unlikely that the recent modification of tumor grading according to Gleason criteria for prostate carcinoma will cause a qualitative change and improve significantly the accuracy. The Gleason system does not allow the identification of low aggressive carcinomas by some precise criteria. The ontological dichotomy implies the application of an objective, quantitative approach for the evaluation of tumor aggressiveness as an alternative. That novel approach must be developed and validated in a manner that is independent of the results of any subjective evaluation. For example, computer-aided image analysis can provide information about geometry of the spatial distribution of cancer cell nuclei. A series of the interrelated complexity measures characterizes unequivocally the complex tumor images. Using those measures, carcinomas can be classified into the classes of equivalence and compared with each other. Furthermore, those measures define the quantitative criteria for the identification of low- and high-aggressive prostate carcinomas, the information that the subjective approach is not able to provide. The co-application of those complexity measures in cluster analysis leads to the conclusion that either the subjective or objective classification of tumor aggressiveness for prostate carcinomas should comprise maximal three grades (or classes). Finally, this set of the global fractal dimensions enables a look into dynamics of the underlying cellular system of interacting cells and the reconstruction of the temporal-spatial attractor based on the Taken's embedding theorem. Both computer-aided image analysis and the subsequent fractal synthesis could be performed effectively using the standardized software implemented on the world internet platform. This platform should help to verify the quantitative criteria for the identification of indolent prostate cancers or highly aggressive cancers as well as to test the improved statistical models for progression risk assessment within a single prospective study.