Raman Spectroscopic Signatures of Prostate Cancer Progression: Correlation with Gleason Score

Prostate cancer (CaP) is a heterogeneous malignancy, and its grading via Gleason scoring is essential for prognosis and therapeutic decisions. However, traditional histopathological methods are limited in detecting subtle biochemical variations. This study applies Raman spectroscopy (RS) to formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded (FFPE) CaP tissues of varying Gleason scores to uncover biochemical signatures associated with tumor aggressiveness. Raman spectral analysis reveals distinct molecular alterations, particularly in lipid, protein, and nucleic acid content, that correlate with Gleason grade progression. Raman data Singular Value Decomposition (SVD) analysis helps differentiate between benign and malignant prostate tissues and further stratify cancerous lesions according to Gleason patterns. This is particularly valuable in distinguishing intermediate-grade tumors (Gleason score 7) from high-grade tumors (Gleason scores 8–10), a distinction that carries critical therapeutic implications. Our findings support the potential of Raman spectroscopy as a label-free, non-destructive diagnostic adjunct in CaP grading and stratification, offering further improved classification accuracy to conventional histopathology.