Can infrared spectroscopy identify molecular features of prostate cancer that are not captured by prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing? A new study by the BIRD team, now in press in the European Journal of Cancer, investigates this question in a large prospective clinical cohort.

Led by Prof. Mihaela Žigman of the LMU Faculties of Medicine and Physics, in close collaboration with Prof. Christian Stief of the Department of Urology at LMU University Hospital, the researchers analysed blood plasma samples from 2,024 participants in the prospective Lasers4Life cohort. By combining infrared molecular fingerprinting (IMF) with machine learning, the study examined whether a single blood-based measurement could detect molecular signatures associated with prostate cancer beyond the information provided by established PSA testing. The findings are very encouraging. IMF did not outperform PSA across the full cohort studied here. Specifically, its value may lie in providing complementary molecular information where PSA alone is less informative, thereby independently supporting clinical assessment rather than replacing an established biomarker.

The publication marks another milestone for the InfraRed Diagnostics (BIRD) team and reflects the close integration of molecular science, clinical research and data science. It builds on the long-standing partnership between the Faculty of Physics at LMU and the Department of Urology at LMU University Hospital, as well as on the essential contribution of the Lasers4Life clinical team.

Through this interdisciplinary effort, the team continues to advance infrared profiling towards clinical practice and, ultimately, bringing it closer to the clinical use for the patients who may benefit from them.

Picture: Thorsten Naeser


Original paper:

plasma infrared molecular fingerprinting for prostate cancer detection: prospective evidence for a partially PSA-independent signal

P. Jacob†, M. Chaloupka†, T. Eissa, J. Rebel, J. Aschauer, C. Pfundmeier, S. Witzens, I. Brinkmann, L. Eismann, N. Pyrgidis, F. Krausz, F. Fleischmann, C. Stief‡ & M. Žigman‡

European Journal of Cancer 245, (2026)

† Equal contribution. ‡ Joint senior authors.