2. UroToday Home
  3. Recent Abstracts
  4. Urologic Oncology
  5. Prostate Cancer

Cancer Origin Tracing and Timing in Two High-Risk Prostate Cancers Using Multisample Whole Genome Analysis: Prospects for Personalized Medicine - Beyond the Abstract

An international team led by Tampere, Finland researchers have traced the origins, growth paths, selective spread, and timing of two high-risk prostate cancers. The results suggest how future cancer patients might benefit if these approaches are applied broadly, and show how evolutionary methods can be used to unravel the nature of genomic heterogeneity in cancer. The team used novel processing techniques to obtain whole genome data together with 3D anatomic and histomorphologic analysis in two men with high-risk prostate cancer undergoing radical prostatectomy.

A total of 22 whole genome-sequenced sites (16 primary cancer foci and 6 lymph node metastatic) were analyzed using evolutionary reconstruction tools and spatio-evolutionary models. The team traced the spatial and chronological origins of the primary tumor and metastases, charted their genetic drivers, and distinguished metastatic and non-metastatic subclones. Multiple metastasis-originating events were identified in each patient and tracked anatomically.

Metastasis from the prostate to lymph nodes occurred strictly ipsilaterally in all 12 detected events. In this pilot, metastatic subclone content analysis appears to substantially enhance the identification of key cancer genetic drivers. The study also suggests evolutionary analysis’ positive potential impact on therapy selection and a better definition of the window of opportunity for curative therapy prior to cancer spread. If extended to larger cohorts, it appears likely that similar analyses could add substantial biological insight and clinically relevant value.

Written by: Anssi Nurminen,1 Serafiina Jaatinen,1 Sinja Taavitsainen,1 Gunilla Högnäs,1 Tom Lesluyes,2 Naser Ansari-Pour,3 Teemu Tolonen,4 Kerstin Haase,2,5 Antti Koskenalho,1 Matti Kankainen,6 Juho Jasu,1 Hanna Rauhala,1 Jenni Kesäniemi,1 Tiia Nikupaavola,1 Paula Kujala,4 Irina Rinta-Kiikka,7 Jarno Riikonen,8 Antti Kaipia,8 Teemu Murtola,1,8 Teuvo L. Tammela,1,8 Tapio Visakorpi,1,4 Matti Nykter,1 David C. Wedge,9 Peter Van Loo,2,10,11 G. Steven Bova1

  1. Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Prostate Cancer Research Center, Tampere University and Tays Cancer Center, Tampere, Finland.
  2. The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK.
  3. MRC Molecular Haematology Unit, Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
  4. Fimlab Laboratories, Department of Pathology, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland.
  5. Charité - Universitätsmedizin Berlin, corporate member of Freie Universität Berlin and Humboldt Universität Zu Berlin, ECRC Experimental and Clinical Research Center, Berlin, Germany.
  6. Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland, University of Helsinki, Tukholmankatu, Finland.
  7. Imaging Centre, Department of Radiology, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland.
  8. Department of Urology, TAYS Cancer Center, Tampere University Hospital, Tampere, Finland.
  9. Manchester Cancer Research Centre, Division of Cancer Sciences, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK.
  10. Department of Genetics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
  11. Department of Genomic Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, USA.
Read the Abstract