As part of the new project, GUIDE.MRD, Claus Lindbjerg Andersen and his colleagues will look into whether a test for cancer DNA in the blood of patients who have undergone surgery for lung, bowel or pancreatic cancer can identify patients with residual disease and thereby a high risk of relapse.

"Cancer cells release cancer DNA when they die, and this can be measured in the blood. In our previous Danish studies, we’ve shown that cancer DNA in the blood following surgery is a very strong indicator that the patient is at risk of still having residual disease," says Claus Lindbjerg Andersen.

Depending on the type of cancer, between one-third and two-thirds of patients today are diagnosed at a stage when all of the cancer can be removed by surgery. However, despite an operation, 20-40 percent of patients relapse. This is the group of patients in the GUIDE.MRD project.

"The goal is to find a method to help us to identify the few patients at risk of relapse as quickly and as cost-effectively as possible, so that we can only offer chemotherapy to them, and not everyone else with no risk of relapse," says Claus Lindbjerg Andersen.

AUH and AU's activity in the project is part of a consortium that collectively has received a grant from the EU of 17.66 million EUR. The corporate partners in the project are also contributing 17 million EUR. The total budget is 34.66 million EUR.

Of the EU grant, a total of 3.84 million EUR goes to AU and AUH activities.

Contact

Professor Claus Lindbjerg Andersen
Aarhus University, Department of Clinical Medicine and
Aarhus University Hospital, Department of Molecular Medicine (MOMA)
Telephone: +45 78 45 53 19
Email: cla@clin.au.dk

This coverage is based on press material from Aarhus University Hospital.