Prostate Cancer Biomarkers

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most frequent malignancies in men. However, currently used tumor markers for early diagnosis are lacking specificity and sensitivity. In addition, progression and treatment response are still not sufficiently predictable. Due to its molecular heterogeneity, PCa represents an ideal candidate for exploring and developing a personalized medicine approach.

In this project, liquid biopsies (blood, urine) from patients with suspected or diagnosed PCa at different disease stages will be collected and used to identify and validate biomarkers with diagnostic, prognostic and predictive potential. Furthermore, these biomarkers will be characterized in detail in order to determine their functional role in PCa onset, progression and metastasis as well as therapy resistance. Overall, the focus of the junior research group lies on translational uro-oncology and the establishment of molecular markers with higher clinical performance helping to refine early diagnosis as well as individual risk stratification and treatment planning for PCa patients.

The long-term objectives of the project are:

• development of non- or minimal-invasive diagnostic tools to avoid unnecessary prostate biopsies
• implementation of prognostic and predictive factors in treatment decisions and thus prevention of ineffective therapies
• shedding light on mechanisms of tumor onset, progression and metastasis as well as therapy resistance
• establishing strategies to circumvent therapy resistance
• identification of novel therapeutic targets

• collection and processing of urine and blood samples from patients with suspected or diagnosed PCa as well as from control patients, documentation of clinico-pathological and follow-up data
• culture of human tumor cell lines and non-malignant cells
• isolation of exosomes, nucleic acids and proteins from urine, blood and cell samples
• transient transfection of tumor cells: modulation of gene and microRNA expression
• chemo- and radiosensitization of tumor cells
• transfer of exosomes from chemo- and radioresistant cell lines and from patients receiving systemic therapy to sensitive cells
• assays for the characterization of cell growth (proliferation, viability, apoptosis, cell cycle, cell colony formation, wound healing, migration, invasion)
• quantitative PCR for quantitation of gene expression
• gel electrophoresis
• cloning, sequencing, reporter gene assays
• protein analysis (Western Blot, Slot Blot, ELISA)
• immunohistochemistry and in situ-hybridization of tissue microarrays
• microscopy
• statistical assessment of diagnostic, prognostic and predictive value of selected biomarkers