“We want to find new biomarkers for early cancer development”
Ingrid Glimelius is studying how new cancer in former cancer patients can be detected at an earlier stage. Photo: Mikael Wallerstedt, Uppsala University
Ingrid Glimelius, Professor at the Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology, is leading a research project focused on detecting new cancer in people who have had cancer before. The Swedish Cancer Society has granted SEK 22 million in funding for the project.
What will you do with the money?
“We will study what level of risk there is of developing a completely new cancer for people who have had cancer before – that is, not a recurrence, but a second cancer. We know that this risk is unfortunately elevated, but we do not know how we can detect it earlier or whether there are early signs of another cancer. We will also offer early screening to various groups of people registered in the U-CAN biobank.”
Why is it difficult to detect new cancer in people who have previously had cancer?
“It is generally difficult to detect cancer early-on because there are not many biomarkers that can be seen during the early stages of cancer. There are several biomarkers that can be measured when the cancer is already manifest and large, but ideally we would want to detect very early signs so we could treat or perhaps surgically remove it during the preliminary stages.”
How can your research change this?
“The U-CAN biobank currently includes 22,000 patients in Uppsala. They have provided blood samples on several occasions after their first cancer but before any second cancer. We can thus study blood samples taken months or years before any second cancer appears. We can also compare the samples with those of people who have not developed a second cancer, hopefully enabling us to find completely new biomarkers for cancer development.
Once we have identified risk groups that have an extra high risk of a second cancer, such as those who have received intensive chemotherapy or radiation, were young at the time of their first treatment, or have certain characteristics in their proteins or genes that may indicate an increased risk of cancer, we can offer these risk groups screening with a full-body X-ray. We hope to be able to detect a second cancer at an early enough stage that it can be cured.”
How is your research conducted in practical terms?
“We will start by collecting data on all patients in U-CAN. We will then link this to our national cancer registry. We will also compare U-CAN participants with Sweden as a whole to see how high the risk of a second cancer is depending on how malignant the first cancer was or what treatment was received.
Through the blood samples, we will study new biomarkers for early cancer diagnosis. For example, there is something called CHIP (clonal haematopoiesis) that can indicate an increased risk of developing secondary leukaemia or the like. We want to study this. It is one of the few early biomarkers for secondary cancer risk known today. We also want to use gene and protein studies to discover completely new biomarkers.
Another goal is to identify the main factors that increase cancer risk. Ideally, we would like to tailor the initial cancer treatment so that it cures the cancer but does not increase the risk of a second cancer.”
Åsa Malmberg