NMIBC a personalized approach: defining the genomic landscape and response to therapy

Principal Investigator: 
Marianna Kruithof-de Julio, PhD, PD, Urology Research Laboratory, Department for BioMedical Research University of Bern, Insel Hospital. For more information, please visit the website. 

Co-Investigator:
Roland Seiler, MD, PD, Consultant and Coordinator of Uro-Oncology Cancer Center, Department of Urology, University of Bern, Insel Hospital.

Urothelial bladder cancer is the fifth most common cancer in the Western world and the costliest cancer to treat on a per patient basis. The majority of patients (75%) are diagnosed with non-muscle-invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC) which is treated by transurethral resection of the bladder tumor. Thereafter, patients enter an invasive follow-up regimen by cystoscopy every 3-6 months and they have a 60-70% risk of cancer recurrence. Despite the costs, patient discomfort and sever socio-economic burden, NMIBC is still understudied. In this project, we focus on NMIBC and hypothesize that molecular profiles of the parental bladder cancer can predict the phenotype and responsiveness of NMIBC and allow a personalized treatment.