Gastric cancer (GC) is one of the most fatal types of cancer, yet there are no specific therapies. One major problem is the heterogeneity, dividing GC into several subtypes. To design new GC therapies, it is important to study the causal factors of each GC subtype. My focus is on Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) associated GC (EBVaGC) which globally are 10% of all GC but in Finland the incidence is higher. I will use human gastric organoids, healthy stomach cells grown on a dish, and sequentially add the most frequent EBVaGC co-factors. Then I will assess how these factors transform healthy gastric organoids into cancerous cells. For this, I have designed a set of assays to measure the transformation at molecular and functional level. Once the strongest differentially regulated proteins between healthy and cancerous organoids will be identified, their expression will be validated in Finnish patient biopsies. This will lead to design better therapies for this deadly type of cancer.

2023

2027