Financing: Other Funding Agencies (OTHER)

Project reference Nr.: Onkelinckx/3M090645
Start: 2009-09-15
End: 2010-12-31

Description:
translationeel onderzoeksproject over prostaatcarcinoom in kader van het kankerplan

With more than 9000 new cases annually, prostate cancer (PCa) accounts for
approximately 30% of all cancer cases in Belgium and is the second leading cause of
cancer-related death in men. Treatment options of PCa and the success rate of
intervention largely depend on the stage of the disease at the time of diagnosis. Since the
implementation of routine PSA testing for detection of PCa, 70-80% of PCa patients
present with early stage tumours. Many of the diagnosed tumours however, are latent and
clinically irrelevant thus presenting a risk of overtreatment and therefore a tremendous
clinical dilemma as no effective predictive tests for disease progression are available. On
the other hand, the rate of biochemical failure is significant notwithstanding locally
aggressive therapy and a substantial number of patients will develop clinical metastatic
disease or already present with occult (distant) metastases at the time of staging. Both
situations emphasize the need for reliable criteria for treatment decision.
Nowadays, treatment decision of PCa is largely based on the histopathological TNM
(tumour, node, metastasis) system. The histological differentiation of the primary tumour
(Gleason scoring system) is the dominant prognostic factor for prediction of the disease
outcome, independently of stage and applied therapy. However, both systems provide at
best an ad hoc picture of the tumour. Progress in methodologies with the potential to
provide a better knowledge of the tumour characteristics, to improve the preoperative
TNM staging or to predict therapy response will undoubtedly aid in the
selection of more appropriate primary and/or adjuvant treatment options. Recent
advances in molecular cancer research and more specifically in cancer imaging and the
molecular understanding of cancer progression hold significant promise in this respect
and have the power to revolutionize the ways that prostate cancer is diagnosed and
treated.
Aim:
The aim of this project is to translate novel molecular findings on PCa biology into
clinical practice by implementing functional imaging techniques (non-invasive) and
evaluating novel molecular diagnostic tools (invasive) with the ultimate goal to better
predict prognosis and therapeutic responses for PCa patients. Ultimately, this will
improve the selection of the optimal treatment for specific patient groups, enabling a
more patient-tailored treatment. Moreover, this will lead to reduced overtreatment
and thereby avoidance of high costs and possible treatment-related side-effects.
 

SMC people involved in the project:

• Raymond Oyen (Co-promoter)
• Bart De Moor (Co-promoter)
• Aleyde Van Eynde (Co-promoter)
• Hendrik Van Poppel (Co-promoter)
• Mathieu Bollen (Co-promoter)
• Christophe Deroose (Co-promoter)
• Karin Haustermans (Co-promoter)
• Steven Joniau (Co-promoter)
• Evelyne Lerut (Co-promoter)
• Johannes Swinnen (Promoter)