Better treatment options for prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is the most frequent cancer in men and the fifth most frequent cause of cancer-related death in men. At the same time, there are forms of prostate cancer that do not require treatment.

IT is therefore vital to make a precise diagnosis, so that the individual patient receives the correct treatment, and to make it possible to assess whether a treatment that has been started has the desired effect.
The Vissing Foundation supports projects that focus on targeted diagnostics and treatment of prostate cancer.

“We are investigating a method by which tissue samples from the prostate are better targeted with the use of advanced scans. The scans help the physician to see precisely where cancer may be suspected, so that the samples can be taken from the right places. We are focusing on men whose first MR scan has not shown clear signs of cancer, but where prostate cancer is still indicated,” explains Mads Ryø Jochumsen, MD, PhD, Nuclear Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital.

The aim is to take fewer tissue samples, and only to take them from areas that look suspicious on the scan. It is also an objective to make more precise diagnoses than by the current standard method, which is normally to take 12 random samples from the prostate.

The project also includes Lu-PSMA therapy, which is a new, targeted radioactive treatment for advanced prostate cancer.

“We are studying both results from scans – e.g. blood flow in cancer tumours – and various substances in the blood, including traces of cancer DNA and mutations in them,” says Mads Ryø Jochumsen.

The objective here is to find indications that can predict whether treatment will be effective, which can be used to assess the effect of treatment in progress.

The overall aim of the research project is to improve diagnostic precision and ensure the best possible choice of treatment for the individual patient with prostate cancer.