From lab to healthcare – A new test for men with metastatic prostate cancer is now being launched

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– It feels very good that this test is now being implemented in the clinical routine. It gives more patients with metastatic prostate cancer access to precision medical treatment for their disease. The test has been improved to be able to detect changes in very small amounts of DNA, which was previously a problem for this group of patients, he says. Johann LindberghSenior researcher at Department of Medical Epidemiology and BiostatisticsKarolinska Institutet and at SciLifeLab, who also holds a part-time position in Molecular Cancer Diagnostics at Karolinska University Hospital in Solna.

Johan Lindberg was responsible for the development of the routine diagnostic test in collaboration with Hannes Olawsona pathologist at Karolinska University Hospital and associate researcher at Department of Clinical Sciences, Intervention, and TechnologyAnd Felix Haglundpathologist at Karolinska University Hospital and senior researcher at Department of Oncology – Pathology.

The method builds on research previously published in, among others Genomic medicine And Clinical Cancer Research.

Precision medicine analysis

Since May 2022, men with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer have been able to be treated with olaparib as long as the patient’s cancer cells have a mutation in one of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes. The new analysis can identify these mutations by sequencing circulating DNA from dying cancer cells, providing an updated picture of the mutations. In the past, the analysis was performed on tissue samples that may have been taken way back in time.

To make treatment available to more patients, Karolinska University Hospital is now offering the analysis to hospitals throughout the Nordic region. The analysis is developed in a framework The ProBio Multinational Study.

Close collaboration between academia and healthcare

Mikael Björnstedt, Director of Clinical Pathology and Cancer Diagnostics at Karolinska University Hospital, points out that cell-free DNA analyzes are expected to increase in the next few years, which requires closer collaboration between researchers at Karolinska Institutet and nursing staff at Karolinska University. hospital.

– The development of precision medicine analytics is progressing rapidly, and to keep pace, an active exchange of skills and knowledge is required between academia and healthcare, says Mikael Bjornstedt.

This news article is based on one Press release from Karolinska University Hospital.