Group of Urological Molecular Biology was established in 2001 at Oslo Urological University Clinic and moved in 2010 to Department of Tumor Biology.

Prostate cancer is the most common male malignancy in Norway and the number of men diagnosed with prostate cancer is rapidly increasing. About one third of the patients receive curative treatment meaning surgery or radiation. However, many patients will experience more problems due to the treatment then the cancer itself. This is a dilemma for the urologists as they can’t tell whether a histological proven tumor will give rise to a clinically significant disease. Thus, over treatment of prostate cancer patients with non-aggressive disease is a major problem both for the patients and the health care system. In collaboration with Department of Urology and Department of Pathology, the Group of Urological Molecular Biology is studying the molecular mechanisms involved in progression to castration resistant prostate cancer (also called hormone refractory or androgen-independent) in order to identify molecular biomarkers of aggressive disease and new drug targets.

The leader of the group is senior scientist Kristin Austlid Taskén (PhD), who also holds a position as adjunct professor at Department of Urology.