For decades, it has been a big challenge to directly and accurately measure an irregularly shaped area for a tumor volume evaluation of prostate cancer. All current methods are not ideal for different reasons. An objective, practical, accurate, and reliable method for measuring of prostate cancer volume is needed, in particular in modern precision medicine setting, pursuing accuracy and quality of health care.
In this study, we applied a mathematical method - the Gauss area calculation formula to the evaluation of irregular shape of prostate cancer areas on H&E slides. To simplify the calculations, we used JavaScript program to achieve that practical easiness.
By using this mathematical method, we were able to easily obtain the accurate tumor volume percentage, which has never been so objective, accurate, and practical before. The method can be easily applied using scanned H&E pathological slides - including surgical slides, fine needle aspirate (FNA) slides, and even digitally scanned pictures, particularly when there are separate areas of interest on one slide.
To our knowledge, this is the first reported practical solution of this methodological problem. In this project, with a mathematical method as the principle, we developed a JavaScript program to simplify the calculation so the pathologists can easily apply it to obtain an objective and accurate information for the tumor volume of prostate cancer.