Prostate: Small Organ, Big Problems—informing clinical decisions with computational models

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• Hector Gomez (Purdue University)
• Friday 19 September 2025, 13:30-14:30
• Seminar Room 1, Newton Institute.

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OOEW07 - Mathematical Foundations of Oncological Digital Twins

Despite its small size and supporting role in the male genitourinary system the prostate is the site of two major pathologies in older men: prostate cancer (PCa) and benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH). This talk will describe three recent examples showing how computational models informed by patient-specific data can play a critical role in clinical decision making: The first example illustrates how computational modeling can help improve decision making in active surveillance (AS), an emerging clinical strategy for PCa patients with low to intermediate risk that aims at reducing overtreatment by delaying therapy. However, current AS protocols have limitations, including delayed detection of tumor progression and lack of personalization. To overcome these issues, we propose a patient-specific computational model that utilizes longitudinal imaging data. Results using data from a small cohort of patients indicate that the model predicts tumor kinetics accurately and has the potential to improve the effectiveness of AS by providing personalized monitoring. The second example illustrates how a computational model can help identify PCa relapse after radiation therapy. Our model, tested on a cohort of approximately 150 patients, identified relapse a median of 14.8 months earlier than standard practice, providing clinicians more time to begin life-sustaining secondary treatments in cases of relapse. In the third example, I will describe how our model led to an innovative hypothesis to explain an unsolved medical debate: why larger prostates tend to harbor less aggressive tumors.

This talk is part of the Isaac Newton Institute Seminar Series series.

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