For men with an aggressive form of prostate cancer, finding the right and effective treatment right away is challenging. Many of these men face a high risk of cancer recurrence: about half experience a relapse after surgery, and more than a third after undergoing radiation therapy. Men with metastatic prostate cancer have particularly poor prognoses, with a five-year survival rate of only 30% to 50%. In short, it is difficult to predict which treatment, or combination of treatments, will lead to longer survival for this group of men with aggressive (metastatic) prostate cancer.
In the laboratory, it is possible to grow small samples of tumors into 3D mini-tumors. These mini-tumors retain the characteristics of the patient's original tumor tissue. Various treatments can be tested on these 3D mini-tumors to determine which therapy is most effective for each individual case. There are currently two techniques available for creating these 3D mini-tumors in the lab. In this project, we aim to investigate which of these two techniques works best in order to test and personalize treatments.
Patients aged 18 years or older
Patients with prostate cancer
Patients planned for HDR brachytherapy treatment for high-risk or recurrent prostate cancer or transperineal prostate biopsy with MRI-suspected metastatic prostate cancer with at least clinical stage T3-4.
Patients younger than 18 years
Patients of whom it is not possible to obtain left-over tissue as part of the normal clinical treatment procedure (e.g., if all tumor material is required for the pathologist to make a diagnosis, to stage the patient or to perform a molecular diagnosis).
Maastricht Radiation Oncology
Lead sponsor
Zuyderland Medical Centre
Collaborator
Maastricht University Medical Center
Collaborator