Research

Helsinki Urological Cancer Centre focuses on the clinical and academic work done at the HUS Helsinki University Hospital and Helsinki University. Department of urology is the largest in Finland with an catchment area of ca. 1.5M inhabitants and 25 staff members.
Mission

With approximately 5000 new cases in 2020, prostate cancer is the most common cancer in Finland.

What are we doing to help?

We explore RNA and protein expression of prostate cancer, finding new game-changing biomarkers. By using artificial intelligence, we create algorithms for cancer recognition in pathological H&E slides and MRI images, connecting this to patient data.

We seek to translate our findings into clinical everyday practice and empower the future of precision medicine.
Objectives

Our research at Helsinki Urological Cancer Centre has the following main objectives:

1. (Mainly) tissue biomarkers of prognosis, prediction and treatment resistance in urological cancer.

2. Combine marker studies with registry data, imaging (MRI) and image analysis (Machine learning/AI augmented).

3. Improved diagnostics and more precise treatment decisions.

4. Urological malignancies:

  • Prostate cancer
  • Urothelial (bladder) cancer
  • Kidney (renal cell) cancer
  • Testicular cancer
  • Penile cancer
Clinical Samples

Clinical samples are the backbone of our research at Helsinki Urological Cancer Centre (HUCC):

  • Renal cell carcinoma TMA
    • Helsinki biobank samples, yy. 2006-2013
    • Surgical treatment. recurrence vs. non-recurrence
    • External validation: Turku RCC-TMA
  • Prostate cancer TMAs
    • Helsinki TMA I
      • Surgical treatment, median of 16 years follow-up, disease-specific survival (DSS)
    • MRIxRALP TMA
      • Imaging detected Pca, 2014-2015
      • MRI images & scanned histological slides
    • Helsinki TMA II
      • Gleason 7-8, cases vs. controls, median 9 years follow-up, metastasis & disease-specific survival (DSS)
  • Bladder cancer TMA
    • Neoadjuvant treated urothelial carcinomas, treatment resistance
      • Helsinki TMA
      • Turku TMA
  • Prospective cohorts – multiple sample types
    • HUB
    • DEDUCER
    • ProScreen