Institute seminar Wednesday February 2nd Øystein Fodstad
The institute seminar on Wednesday February 2nd is given by Øystein Fodstad from the Department of Tumor Biology.
Title of his talk: Detection and characterization of micrometastases in cancer– what have we learned?
The seminar takes place in the Auditorium (New Research Building Montebello) and starts at 12:00.
Abstract:
Detection and characterization of micrometastases in cancer- what have we learned?
Øystein Fodstad from the Deparment of Tumor Biology
Cancer patients die of metastastic disease, and since relapse occurs even when the primary tumor is successfully removed occult cancer cells must have remained in the body and already spread at the time of surgery. If we can identify these disseminated cells (DCTs), we should be able to improve the staging of the disease, obtain prognostic valuable information, and possibly by monitoring the presence of such cells detect relapse early. Such information would have significant clinical implications.
During almost 20 years in this area of research we have established and improved methods of detection and characterization of DCTs and tested them on blood, bone marrow and solid tumor tissue samples obtained from patients with a variety of cancer types. In most cases, a significant correlation between the presence of DCTs and tumor stage and/or survival of the patients have been found, but neither our or other methods for detection are being used in routine clinical practise. One reason for this is the limitations of the methods with regards to their sensitivity and specificity. Furthermore, it has become obvious that it is necessary to improve our understanding of the biology of metastasis, in this case by characterizing the DCTs for their potential and capacity to form metastases and hence cause relapse in distant organs. These aspects and the future direction of the field will be discussed.
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