Ole Petter Clausen (Gastro-intestinal and Skin tumor biology)
Group Leader: Ole Petter F Clausen, Professor, M.D., Ph.D.
Group Members
Paula M. De Angelis (PhD, senior scientist)
Espen Burum-Auensen (PhD student, The Norwegian Cancer Society)
Birgitte Lid Adamsen (PhD student, Stiftelsen UNI)
Arne Westgaard (PhD student, Department of Surgery, Rikshospitalet-Radiumhospitalet HF)
Aasa Schjølberg (Senior Research technician University of Oslo (1/1)
Liza Kravik (Research technician, The Norwegian Cancer Society (1/1)
Marzieh Beigi (Research technician, The Norwegian Cancer Society (1/1)
The research group is composed of two sections:
a) Section for Carcinogenesis, led by Ole Petter F. Clausen, MD, PhD
b) Section for Molecular Chemoresistance, led by Paula M. De Angelis, PhD
a) Section for Carcinogenesis
The main areas of interest for this section are investigations of cancers and their preneoplastic stages in the gastrointestinal tract, in squamous epithelium of the ENT region and in the skin. We try to better understand the different types of growth- and differentiation-related deregulations that might characterize a specific cancer type, and that often affect various signal transduction pathways for growth and cell death. The rationale behind these studies is to characterize aberrant genotypes and phenotypes that may be of importance for better classification of cancer subtypes, for detecting early and treatable disease, and to find prognostic markers that may be important for choice of treatment and follow up of patients. Such genetic aberrations have been shown to be of increasing importance in the development and evolution of many different types of human cancer. We have a special interest in studying the mechanisms for development of aneuploidy, which confers bad prognosis in colorectal cancer and in many other cancer types.
b) Section for Molecular Chemoresistance
The chemotherapeutic drugs 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and irinotecan, which are used to treat metastatic colorectal cancer, are DNA-damaging and apoptosis-inducing agents. However, resistance to these drugs is a major obstacle to successful therapy and may develop after a primary period of successful response. Elucidations of the complex biological mechanisms involved in development of resistance to 5-FU and irinotecan, in DNA damage checkpoint response, and in apoptosis induction, are essential steps in predicting treatment outcome or overcoming such resistance, and are the main areas of interest for this research section. Drug resistance in drug-sensitive and drug-resistant colorectal cancer cell lines is studied in order to elucidate the mechanisms underlying development of resistance and to identify biomarkers of drug response. Such knowledge will make it possible to counteract resistance development in the future, and to circumvent drug treatment of patients who will not derive any benefit of such treatment.