Prostate cancer (PCa) is the most common male malignancy and the third most common cause of cancer-related death, with almost 5000 cancer cases annually in Finland. Each PCa is unique: some are indolent, while others are aggressive. We need to be able to better define those patients with early-stage PCa needing active treatments. Furthermore, we need to understand how to cure the patients, who develop a treatment-resistant disease. The aim of this project is to provide tools for distinguishing indolent cases from aggressive disease, and identification of personalized second-line treatment options. Our findings show that functional and spatial interplay of cancer cells with other cell types, mainly cancer-associated fibroblasts, is important for PCa development, progression and treatment. Recent advances in imaging and single cell analysis and functional drug testing of patient's cells offer us new tools to explore cancer and develop new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.

2020

2024