The PhD defence and trial lecture will be streamed. The chair of the defence will moderate the disputation.
Ex auditorio questions: the chair of the defence will invite the audience physically present in the auditorium to ask ex auditorio questions.
→ Live streaming of trial lecture and disputation
→ Request for thesis copy (available until the disputation starts)
Trial lecture
Time and place: June 14, 2024; 10:15 AM, - Lille Fysiske auditorium (V232) - Fysikkbygningen
Title: "Development and validation of composite cancer biomarkers:
opportunities and challenges"
Main research findings
Deciphering the role of hypoxia in prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the most prevalent cancer disease in men. It poses diagnostic challenges due to variations in each patient’s tumor biology. A better understanding of key biological traits can help selection of aggressive cancers for intensified treatment while avoiding unnecessary treatment of low-risk cases. Hypoxia – a condition of low oxygen levels in the tissue – is an aggressive trait that enhances tumor cell’s ability to survive, invade, and metastasize to distant organs. Our study was tailored for hypoxia research by giving patients the hypoxia marker pimonidazole before surgery. By developing an innovative digital histopathology platform to examine tissue samples, we investigated hypoxia and its interaction with important markers like cell growth, blood vessel distribution and protein expression. We used gene expression profiles to identify genetic features of the disease. We identified enhanced proliferation, MYC oncogene activation, and PTEN tumor suppressor loss as key factors in aggressive hypoxia-tolerant tumors, offering targets for advanced prostate cancer therapies. We also extended the use of our platform to elucidate the biology behind hypoxia images extracted from diagnostic MRI scans, facilitating its clinical integration. This research provided novel insights into the role of hypoxia in prostate cancer.
Adjudication Committee
- Professor Tufve Nyholm, Umeå University, Sweden
- Associate Professor Elisabeth Wik, University of Bergen, Norway
- Associate Professor Asta Juzeniene, University of Oslo, Norway
Supervisors
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Professor II Heidi Lyng, Department of Physics, University of Oslo, Norway
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Associate Professor Nina Frederike Jeppesen Edin, Department of Physics, University of Oslo, Norway
Chair of defence
Head of Department Susanne Friederike Viefers, Department of Physics, University of Oslo, Norway
Contact information to Department: Line Trosterud Resvold