Abstract: Disclosed are methods for prognostic evaluation, and diagnosis of cancers. The methods of the present invention allow for the diagnosis and prognosis of cancers by analyzing the levels of expression of an enzyme that is involved in the biosynthetic pathway of spermine within tissue samples containing cancerous tissues. In particular, the amount of enzyme mRNA detected in tissue sample correlates with disease status such that enzyme levels can be used to predict the presence of, as well as the metastatic potential of cancer. Thus, measuring the level of spermine pathway enzymes in biological samples provides a quick, easy, and safe screen that can be used to both diagnose and prognose cancer in a patient thus leading to more effective treatments and cures.

Abstract: A system, method and software arrangement according to exemplary embodiments of the present invention are provided which can use molecular profiles obtained from unaltered human tissue specimens for clinical purposes including disease diagnoses and treatment evaluations. For example, spatial distributions of chemical species including metabolites within the tissue may be obtained using radiological techniques such as magnetic resonance spectroscopy imaging. Disease-specific profiles may be obtained by comparing the distributions of chemical species obtained in ex vivo tissues with pathological observations made on them using statistical analysis. The disease-specific profiles may then be correlated with in vivo or ex vivo molecular profiles to obtain spatial maps that can provide a more sensitive and accurate detection of diseased tissue.