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2022 John Black Charitable Foundation – PCF Young Investigator Award

Immune Topology as a Predictor of Prostate Cancer Outcome in Imaging-Based Cohorts

Vasilis Stavrinides, MD, PhD
University College London

Mentors: Mark Emberton, MD, Emek Demir, PhD

Description:

  • Multiparametric magnetic resonance imaging (mpMRI) is a standard imaging option that aids in the diagnosis of prostate cancer. However, inflammation can influence prostate cancer outcomes, yet is understudied in MRI-based studies.
  • Dr. Vasilis Stavrinides is developing pathology-based tools that evaluate the immune features of the tumor microenviroment, as biomarkers to aid in prognostication of patients who are diagnosed by MRI.
  • In this project, Dr. Stavrinides and team will create a tool that can map the locations of different types of immune cells in tumor tissue samples and use this to determine whether any immune patterns correlate with clinical tumor features or patient outcomes.
  • Whether any immune patterns correlate with MRI features will also be evaluated.
  • If successful, this project will result in the development of immune-based spatial pathology biomarkers that improve the detection of potentially aggressive MRI-visible prostate cancer at diagnosis and predict biochemical recurrence after surgery, which can help to inform patient management and treatment decisions.

What this means to patients: Improved methods to predict prostate cancer aggressiveness and clinical outcomes at diagnosis are needed to better select the most appropriate treatment strategies for individual patients. Dr. Stavrinides’ project will develop a pathology-based biomarker for use in concert with MRI at diagnosis, that will improve identification of those at highest risk of progression, disease recurrence, and metastatic spread, to ultimately improve patient management, treatment decisions, and outcomes.