COLORECTAL CANCER
PROJECTS
PI/Investigator: Ismail Gögenur & Ilze Ose
Aim: The primary aim of this randomized clinical trial (RCT) is to investigate if we can improve the quality of recovery and reduce the risk of complications in elderly frail patients with small colon cancers with an organ preserving approach (CELS) compared with standard surgery
Status: Recruiting since april 2023. 6 out of 48 patients are included.
PI/Investigator: Astrid Louise Bjørn Bennedsen
Aim: The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of local antibiotic treatment with fosfomycin and metronidazole on tumor characteristics and the colonic biofilm in patients with right-sided colon cancer or right-sided colon adenomas.
Status: Data analysis ongoing and manuscript in progress.
PI/Investigator: Previous Hans Raskov – now our laboratory team
Aim: Tumor-secreted factors cause immunosuppression by driving alternatively activated, protumorigenic immune cells (MDSCs) to move from the bone marrow to the circulation, promoting disese progression and negatively affecting treatment responses. Using a novel flowcytometry analysis, we have identified and quantified three classes of MDSCs in CRC, and confirmed their immuno-suppressive capacity. Moving forward, we will investigate the MDSC spatial distribution in the TME to better understand tumor cell immune evasion and the impact on treatment outcomes.
Status: We are finalizing blood collection and performing the flow cytometry on 25 CRC patients. Q1-2 data analysis will be performed by our collaborators at DTU and Q2-3 GeoMx analyses on 25 tumours will take place at the research lab at CSS.
PI/Investigator: Ismail Gögenur, Adile Orhan & Mikail Gögenur
Aim: Investigate if the combination of intratumoral flu vaccine and the immunotherapy pembrolizumab results in cancer cell death in patients with pMMR colorectal cancer
Status: Actively including, 4 patients included
PI/Investigator: Doruk Orgun
Aim: The aim of this study is to assess and understand the changes in treatment decisions by the colorectal cancer multidisciplinary team when using or not using machine-learning models as decision support, specifically in use of neoadjuvant treatment, prehabilitation, and choosing no surgery at all
Status: Awaiting status
PI/Investigator: Loan Tuyet Ngo-Stuyt, Mikail Gögenur & Rasmus Vogelsang
Aim: To test treatment with electroporation preceeded by iv Bleomycine or Calcium intratumorally have a positive impact on tumor biology in advanced rectal and early rectosigmoid cancer
Status: Manuscript in progress
PI/Investigator: Ismail Gögenur, Katrine Høst
Aim: The aim is to characterise disease development in correlation to cellular, molecular and bacterial factors. As part of this aim, we have established biobank material from organoids, blood, and tissue from patients with and without cancer.
Status:
PI/Investigator: Helin Yikilmaz Pardes
Aim: The study is a randomized double-blinded placebo-controlled phase 2 study. We aim to determine the efficacy of preoperative treatment with interferon-alfa2a in patients with pMMR colon cancer on perioperative immune suppression and tumorinfiltrating lymphocytes in the primary tumor.
Status: We have included 30 out of 68 patients.
PI/Investigator: Mustafa Bulut
Aim: To describe in a consecutive group of more than 200 patients the results of minimally invasive techniques in advanced colon adenomas and early colorectal lesions
Status: Manuscript in progress
PI: Lukas Balsevicius & Ismail Gögenur
Aim: To investigate if there are any single cell tumor stromal or immune cell markers that may have a value for predicting complete pathological response in patients receiving neoadjuvant pembrolizumab.
Status: Clinical study finalized, translational analyses finalized in Q3, 2025
PI/Investigator: Jawad Ahmad Zahid & Ismail Gögenur
Aim: To investigate if melatonin has an alleviating effect on Low Anterior Resection Syndromesymptoms. Secondarily, to examine treatment effect on bowel function, various patient reported outcomes, and inflammation.
Status: Patient inclusion complete, analyses and manuscript pending
PI/Investigator: Mia Kristina Stubseid Sørensen
Aim: To investigate the predictive value of selected biomarkers in diagnostic biopsies from rectal cancer patients in the NEOLAR trial using digital image analysis and spatial profiling techniques, with the goal of exploring their potential for optimizing patient selection for neoadjuvant therapy.
Status: Tissue samples have been retrieved, and the selection of tissue areas for biomarker analysis is in progress. Immunohistochemistry, digital image analysis, and spatial profiling are in the planning phase.
PI/Investigator: Puck Quarles van Ufford, Ole Lund (DTU), Lars Rønn Olsen (KU), Ismail Gögenur, Martin Høyer Rose
Aim: My PhD consists of 3 different projects:
- Predicting CRC recurrence with NanoString data and phenotypic data.
- Inferring Consensus Molecular Subtypes for CRC samples using NanoString data.
- Predicting surgical complications and recurrence with genotyping data.
Status: I am currently actively working on the second and third project. The first project is on hold until project 2 is finished, as we want to use the subtype as a feature there.
PI/investigator: Maria Olausson, M.D.
Aim: We wish to identify and characterize the most critical and ill patient-population within major emergency abdominal surgery, both on short- and long-term, and investigated the mechanisms of the surgical stress response by exploring different biomarker and pathways.
Status:
Study I: High Risk of Short-Term Mortality and Postoperative Complications in Patients with Generalized Peritonitis undergoing Major Emergency Abdominal Surgery – a Cohort Study – Published
Study II: Long-Term Survival in Generalized Peritonitis: The Impact of Early Critical Periods in Major Emergency Abdominal Surgery – Draft revision
Study III: Characterizing a population with intraabdominal cancer undergoing general emergency surgery and the clinical impact of secondary peritonitis – a cohort study – Data analyses
Study IV: Surgical stress response in patients with secondary peritonitis undergoing major emergency abdominal surgery – a prospective matched-cohort study – Data collected
Study V: Surgical stress response caused by secondary peritonitis and the effect on the thyroid system – clinical prospective study – Data collected