Cancer Stress Biology research group led by Docent Leena Latonen studies the molecular, cellular, and tissue mechanisms that contribute formation and progression of cancer. With modern omics and functional methodologies, we dissect the molecular mechanisms behind the ability of cancer cells to form resistance to drugs and affect ability of cancer to grow in the tissue environment. We also develop better ways to image, visualize, and quantitatively analyse cell alterations and tissue histology, utilizing novel and multimodal imaging methods, digital pathology, machine learning, and AI tools.
We work towards understanding evolution of in especially prostate and breast cancer, although we believe that many of our approaches and findings will benefit understanding, diagnosing and treating several other cancer types in the future. With our ongoing collection and study of prostate cancer patient samples, we are also a part of the iCANeast, our regional node of the national The iCAN Flagship Project integrating cutting-edge molecular profiling information from tumors with rich longitudinal health data available in Finland.
We are a part of UEF Cancer, The Multidisciplinary Cancer Research Community within University of Eastern Finland. The Multidisciplinary Cancer RC builds a translational cancer research cluster with Kuopio University Hospital, FICAN East, The Biobank of Eastern Finland, and Kuopio data lake, and brings together expertise on molecular mechanisms, genomics, and quantitative imaging analysis with clinical understanding of cancer diagnostics and treatment. Our common goal is to bring personalized medicine in cancer to the clinic.
Cancer Stress Biology research group also belongs to the Steroid Receptor Research Center utilizing state-of-the-art experimental and computational methods to study molecular mechanisms of steroid hormone receptor functions especially in regulation of chromatin, transcription, and treatment resistance relevant for hormone-dependent cancers, such as prostate and breast cancer.
Our main funding sources are the Research Council of Finland, ERA PerMed, and Cancer Foundation Finland. We are grateful for the support of several private foundations to several of our group members.
