# Automated Gleason Grading of Prostate Biopsies using Deep Learning

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/1907.07980 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/1907.07980/

## Key facts

- Cited by 69 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 18 Jul 2019.

## Built on by (most cited first, 30 of 69)

- [Visual Language Pretrained Multiple Instance Zero-Shot Transfer for Histopathology Images](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.07831/) (2023)
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- [Self-supervised driven consistency training for annotation efficient histopathology image analysis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2102.03897/) (2021)
- [One Model is All You Need: Multi-Task Learning Enables Simultaneous Histology Image Segmentation and Classification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.00077/) (2022)
- [Uncertainty-Informed Deep Learning Models Enable High-Confidence Predictions for Digital Histopathology](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2204.04516/) (2022)
- [CoNIC Challenge: Pushing the Frontiers of Nuclear Detection, Segmentation, Classification and Counting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2303.06274/) (2023)
- [Towards Label-efficient Automatic Diagnosis and Analysis: A Comprehensive Survey of Advanced Deep Learning-based Weakly-supervised, Semi-supervised and Self-supervised Techniques in Histopathological Image Analysis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2208.08789/) (2022)
- [Evidence-based diagnostic reasoning with multi-agent copilot for human pathology](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.20964/) (2025)
- [Towards Large-Scale Training of Pathology Foundation Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2404.15217/) (2024)
- [A Foundational Multimodal Vision Language AI Assistant for Human Pathology](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2312.07814/) (2023)
- [PLUTO: Pathology-Universal Transformer](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.07905/) (2024)
- [Self-learning for weakly supervised Gleason grading of local patterns](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.10420/) (2021)
- [Learning to Predict RNA Sequence Expressions from Whole Slide Images with Applications for Search and Classification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2203.13997/) (2022)
- [Learning biologically relevant features in a pathology foundation model using sparse autoencoders](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.10785/) (2024)
- [DiagSet: a dataset for prostate cancer histopathological image classification](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.04014/) (2021)
- [Annotation-efficient cancer detection with report-guided lesion annotation for deep learning-based prostate cancer detection in bpMRI](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2112.05151/) (2021)
- [The ACROBAT 2022 Challenge: Automatic Registration Of Breast Cancer Tissue](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.18033/) (2023)
- [Weakly Supervised Joint Whole-Slide Segmentation and Classification in Prostate Cancer](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2301.02933/) (2023)
- [WeGleNet: A Weakly-Supervised Convolutional Neural Network for the Semantic Segmentation of Gleason Grades in Prostate Histology Images](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.10445/) (2021)
- [On the Efficiency of Subclass Knowledge Distillation in Classification Tasks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2109.05587/) (2021)
- [Multimodal Generalized Zero Shot Learning for Gleason Grading using Self-Supervised Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2111.07646/) (2021)
- [Multi-domain stain normalization for digital pathology: A cycle-consistent adversarial network for whole slide images](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2301.09431/) (2023)
- [Physical Color Calibration of Digital Pathology Scanners for Robust Artificial Intelligence Assisted Cancer Diagnosis](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2307.05519/) (2023)
- [T2-Only Prostate Cancer Prediction by Meta-Learning from Bi-Parametric MR Imaging](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2411.07416/) (2024)

## Abstract (arXiv)

The Gleason score is the most important prognostic marker for prostate cancer patients but suffers from significant inter-observer variability. We developed a fully automated deep learning system to grade prostate biopsies. The system was developed using 5834 biopsies from 1243 patients. A semi-automatic labeling technique was used to circumvent the need for full manual annotation by pathologists. The developed system achieved a high agreement with the reference standard. In a separate observer experiment, the deep learning system outperformed 10 out of 15 pathologists. The system has the potential to improve prostate cancer prognostics by acting as a first or second reader.
