Cand.med. Hanne Astrid Eide : Disputation and Trial lecture, Jan. 31, 2020: Auditorium BU1, Radiumhospitalet, Montebello

Cand.med. Hanne Astrid Eide

Department of Cancer Genetic

will be defending the thesis:

Disputation

Serum and tumour biomarkers in non-small cell lung cancer

Time and place: Jan. 31, 2020 1:15 PM, Auditorium BU1, Radiumhospitalet, Montebello

Trial Lecture

Treatment of lung cancer in the era of precision medicine

Time and place: Jan. 31, 2020 10:15 PM, Auditorium BU1, Radiumhospitalet, Montebello 

Adjudication Committee 

First opponent: Professor Marta Miaczynska, International Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology in Warsaw, Poland

Second opponent: PhD Espen Stang, Oslo University Hospital

Third member and chair of the evaluation committee: Professor II Ben Davidson, University of Oslo

Chair of defence                                                                                                                             

Professor emeritus Stein Olav Kvaløy, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Oslo

Supervisors

Professor II Åslaug Helland, Dept of Cancer Genetics, Institute for Cancer Research

Summary 

Lung cancer is a common type of cancer in Norway. Many patients are diagnosed in advanced stages of disease and the long-time prognosis is poor. Research efforts during the last decades have resulted in novel treatment options, but there is still an unmet need to improve diagnosis and to stratify patients to adequate treatment. Further biological characterization of lung cancer can thus represent a valuable contribution.

In the thesis «Serum and tumour biomarkers in non-small cell lung cancer» Hanne Astrid Eide and co-workers aimed to study possible biomarkers in tumour tissue and serum samples from patients with non-small cell lung cancer.

In the tumour tissue, analysis revealed a difference in HMGA2 mRNA expression and protein levels in different subtypes of non-small cell cancer. The expression of MYCN, a member of the MYC-family of oncogenes, was seen associated with time to disease recurrence. In patients with locally advanced lung cancer treated with radiotherapy, the PD-L1 protein was found associated with time to recurrence, and further revealed as a possible predictor of local control in the irradiated area.

A majority of lung cancers are caused by smoking. Most smokers however, do not develop lung cancer. When investigating serum from lung cancer patients compared to serum from patients with chronic obstructive lung disease, a difference in cytokine and matrix metalloproteinase levels was revealed. This finding suggests the existence of a cancer-specific footprint in the lung cancer patients. During a course of palliative radiotherapy changes in cytokine levels were also found, concurrent with changes in tumour tissue visualized by FDG-PET.