Cancer Cell Plasticity
Tutkimusryhmä
Ketola group
Cancer Cell Plasticity, Cancer Neuroscience
Current treatment options for prostate cancer include use of androgen deprivation therapies to block tumor growth but often, the tumors become castration-resistant. Even the second generation antiandrogens that do have significant effect on castration-resistant tumor growth in patients are not curative. Approximately 25% of prostate cancer patients with castration-resistant disease treated with antiandrogens develop a form of prostate cancer that is completely independent of androgen receptor signaling that fuels the tumor growth. Analyses of the pathology and genomics of these patient tumors has identified that the tumor cells adapt cancer stem cell and neuronal cell characteristics. Currently, there are no targeted treatment options for this patient group. Thus, development of novel strategies including selection of drugs that could be used to reduce the tumor growth and metastases in this patient group are desperately needed. We study the molecular mechanisms of cellular plasticity and treatment resistance and aim at characterizing novel therapeutic targets and targeted therapies against aggressive, treatment resistant prostate cancer subtypes including treatment-induced neuroendocrine prostate cancer.
Ryhmän sivut
Avainsanat
elävien solujen kuvantaminen
eturauhassyöpä
kasvaimen mikroympäristö
lääkeresistenssi
neuroendokriininen eturauhassyöpä
solujen erilaistuminen
solun signalointireitit
Ryhmän jäsenet - UEF
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Kirsi Ketola Akatemiatutkija, Lääketieteen laitos, Biolääketiede -
Heidi Kaljunen Tutkijatohtori, Lääketieteen laitos, Biolääketiede
Muut
Muut ryhmän jäsenet
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Roosa Kaarijärvi roosa.kaarijarvi@uef.fi
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Noora Laulumaa noorlau@student.uef.fi
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Tomas Darth
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Emmi Järvelä
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Maruf Sahariar
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Eerika Takala
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Okko Kääriäinen
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Kirsi Kainulainen kirsi.kainulainen@uef.fi
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Merja Räsänen merja.rasanen@uef.fi
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Henna Tynjälä henna.tynjala@uef.fi