Maria Rusan får bevilget 2,25 mill. kr. af Kræftens Bekæmpelse (Unge talentfulde kræftforskere) til ctDNA projekt i prostatakræft

Project title: Genomic profiling of circulating tumor DNA to inform treatment in patients with metastatic castration resistant prostate cancer.

Metastatic prostate cancer (PC) is a common cause of cancer mortality in men, with few treatment options. Unlike other cancer types, where treatment is in part guided by molecular profiling, precision medicine in PC is still in its infancy. Nevertheless, molecular profiling of tumors has in recent years, led to the identification of actionable targets in subsets of patients and has fueled development of novel therapies.


A significant challenge of employing precision medicine in metastatic PC is that patients often solely have bone metastases, which are difficult to biopsy for molecular profiling. Analyses of circulating tumor DNA in blood (liquid biopsies) can overcome this. This project will assess the feasibility and clinical utility of genomic profiling of liquid biopsies to match patients with metastatic PC to targeted therapies. Project outcomes are expected to strengthen the implementation of precision medicine and expand treatment options for patients with metastatic PC.