New research paves way for improved individual treatment of patients with cancer

A research team from Aarhus University Hospital and Aarhus University headed by professor Torben Ørntoft and professor Lars Dyrskjøt has been in charge of a larger European research project mapping the molecular mechanisms of early stages of bladder cancer in 460 patients in Denmark, Sweden, The Netherlands, Germany, Spain and Serbia. The researchers found that tumors can be divided into three primary classes with very different molecular and disease-developing characteristics. These findings may be important in risk assessment and subsequent choice of treatment.

The researchers found that bladder tumors from the molecular group with high risk of developing aggressive disease contain mutations in genes and molecular pathways often associated with later stages of the disease. Moreover, the researchers observed changes in genes involved in genome structure regulation in 86% of the tumors. This new knowledge can facilitate use of new drugs targeted at these specific changes.

"This study provides new and valuable insight into the biology of the tumors in the earliest stages of the disease. Clinical and pathological examinations of the individual tumors do not always reflect the risk of later disease aggressiveness. This study provides a tool for risk assessment of the patients and thus for providing optimal treatment," says professor Lars Dyrskjøt from Department of Molecular Medicine, Aarhus University Hospital.