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More personalised breast cancer screening

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A new clinical pilot offers personalised breast cancer screening to Norwegian women.

A new clinical pilot will investigate how women can receive more personalised breast cancer screening. Currently, women in the age group 50-69 are invited to mammogram screenings every second year in Norway, but 20 percent of breast cancer cases are diagnosed among younger women.

“This ‘one size fits all’ approach does not take into account the different breast cancer risks of individual women. A more personalised screening program might be beneficial for both women and society, both in terms of increased surveillance of persons at higher risk for breast cancer, as well as more targeted use of resources. My motivation as a breast radiologist is to work for a high-quality, evidence-based screening program for breast cancer, and this study is an exciting contribution in that respect,” said Tone Hovda, senior radiologist at Vestre Viken Hospital Trust, where the study is running.

Tone Hovda, senior radiologist, Vestre Viken Hospital Trust

Using innovative DNA analysis

Participants of the study will submit a saliva sample, which is sent to Estonia for a genetic data analysis done by the Estonian medical technology company and healthcare service provider Antegenes that has developed the genetic test AnteBC. The AnteBC test is a CE-certified medical device.

The test is used to map a range of gene variants that individually don’t give increased risk for breast cancer, but where the combination of several genes can result in an increased risk. This is called polygenic risk score (PRS) and has never been used in screening programmes in Norway before.

Saliva shows risk of breast cancer

The results from the test will show if the participant has an elevated genetic risk for breast cancer. If it doesn’t, the participant will be recommended to follow the ordinary screening programme for breast cancer in Norway.

If the test shows an elevated risk for breast cancer, the participant will be offered a control scheme, which may include a recommendation of starting regular mammography before they turn 50 years old and/or go to mammography more often than every two years.

“The study analyses a woman’s genetic predisposition to the development of breast cancer, and based on that, provides personalized clinical recommendations for the prevention and early detection of disease. In the pilot study, both a woman’s polygenic risk and, if necessary, the presence of rare single genes that increase the risk of breast cancer will be evaluated,” commented Peeter Padrik, CEO, Antegenes.

Participants will also answer a questionnaire to give background information, such as family history. If there is suspicion of elevated risk of hereditary familial disease, the participant may be offered genetic counselling and extended genetic testing according to current clinical practice.

Towards personalised screening

This initiative is part of the implementation research project AnteNOR, which aims to investigate how it will be possible to implement a more personalised screening programme for breast cancer in Norway, based on the individual’s genetic risk for disease.

The project partners are Oslo University Hospital, the University of Oslo, Vestre Viken Hospital Trust, Oslo Cancer Cluster and Antegenes. It has received funding from The Norway Grants Green ICT programme and runs between 2021-2024.

The clinical trial has received approval from the regional ethics committee and is registered in the database clinicaltrial.gov.

Project partners:

Funded by:

The post More personalised breast cancer screening first appeared on Oslo Cancer Cluster.

The newest members of our cluster, represented by Tone S. Ringstad (Culture Intelligence), Petter Risøe (Diffia), Andreas Petlund (Augere Medical), Gennady Nikitin (MipHic), and Sverre Slaastad (PharmaRelations), introduced themselves at our December Gathering in 2022. Sebastian Franco Ulloa (Expert Analytics) was also there, but not present in picture. Photo: Oslo Cancer Cluster

Meet our newest members

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Get to know the latest additions to our cancer cluster a bit better!

Oslo Cancer Cluster is a member organization with a vision to accelerate the development of novel cancer diagnostics and therapies to improve patients’ lives.

We have about 100 members, spanning the whole oncology value chain. These include university hospitals, research institutions, patient organisations, companies in pharmaceutical development, biotech, technology, human resources, recruitment, legal services and more.

We are proud to announce the following companies have recently joined our cluster: Augere Medical, Culture Intelligence, Diffia, Expert Analytics, Miphic and PharmaRelations.

We asked them to introduce themselves further and below you can read what they said.

Developing AI-based decision support systems

“Augere Medical develops AI-based decision support systems for medical video examinations. Our first product is real-time support to highlight polyps during colonoscopy examinations. Such polyps have the potential to develop into cancer, and it is therefore important to uncover as many as possible during the examination.

“Augere Medical looks forward to benefit from the extensive knowledge present in the Oslo Cancer Cluster network. We also look forward to share our knowledge and experiences from developing a medical deep tech product.”

Andreas Petlund, Chief Executive Officer, Augere Medical

Optimizing the work culture with value-driven actions

“Our purpose is to radically improve how people work together. In uncertain times, working together have never been more important. We help organizations to measure, identify and optimize their culture trough values driven actions.

“Our contributions to the group (cluster) will be to use our competency around people, collaboration, and culture-capital, to drive high performance and business growth.”

Tone S. Ringstad, Founder and CEO, Cultural Intelligence

Improving the care and quality of life for cancer patients

“Diffia is a digital health company working to improve the care and quality of life for cancer patients, by helping hospitals and municipalities provide more care at home. We also provide clinicians with a seamlessly integrated experience to coordinate care better and more efficiently.

“We view Oslo Cancer Cluster as a unique organization that brings together the oncology value chain, both public and private, to drive innovation through collaboration and knowledge sharing. As a member, we aim to learn from and contribute to the cluster’s efforts in enhancing the lives of people with cancer.”

Dr. Petter Risøe, Chief Operating Officer and Co-Founder, Diffia

Solving problems in technology development

“Expert Analytics is a private research company advertised as a haven for academics passionate about problem-solving. At Expert Analytics, we offer consultancy services to assist the development of technologies in the biomedical sector through data analytics, pipeline automation, and fundamental research.

“Our scientists have diverse scientific backgrounds covering molecular biology, neuroscience, and nuclear physics and are ready to apply their knowledge to novel solutions for complex problems.”

Sebastian Franco Ulloa, Ph.D. Principal Data Analyst, Biotechnology Division, Expert Analytics

Delivering mitochondrial testing for cancer patients

“Mitochondria produce essentially all the energy that our bodies need to live. Despite that we still don’t have the technology to test mitochondrial function in clinics. Miphic is a solution for that. Mitochondria in cancer cells are very different in comparison to healthy cells. Miphic has the first-ever proof-of-concept that mitochondria of a cancer patient can be easily tested, and that this information can be used for personalized anti-cancer therapy.

“Miphic has a revolutionary technology that will allow to test mitochondria in clinics. Working together with the many partners from Oslo Cancer Cluster, we will tune and diversify our platform for the exact clinical needs of various cancer treatments. Miphic wants to learn the requirements of pharma partners and clinical personnel to deliver a streamlined and cost-effective mitochondrial screening for real world cancer patients.”

Gennady Nikitin, PhD, founder and CEO, Miphic

Delivering the best candidates in Nordic life science

“PharmaRelations is a full service partner for the Life Science industry. We support Nordic Life Science through all phases of development. We deliver the best candidates within recruitment and interim solutions. We have more than 70 years experience from different Life Science companies from all sectors commercial, medical, regulatory, QA, PV. Call me for an non-binding conversation.”

Sverre Slaastad, Country Manager Norway, PharmaRelations

 

 

Please visit the Membership Overview to see all members of Oslo Cancer Cluster.

The post Meet our newest members first appeared on Oslo Cancer Cluster.

Ketil Widerberg, Oslo Cancer Cluster, Hanne Mette Dyrlie Kristensen, The Life Science Cluster, Arild Kristensen, Norwegian Smart Care Cluster, Lena Nymo Helli, Norway Health Tech. Foto: Jofrid Åsland, Norwegian Smart Care Cluster

Klynger samarbeider om å styrke investor-arbeidet

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Scroll down for an English version of this article.

Klyngene har en unik rolle i å øke private investeringer til norsk næringsliv. Nå går fem norske klynger innen helse og livsvitenskap sammen om investorarbeid og internasjonalisering slik at enda flere norske bedrifter skal lykkes. Prosjektet ledes av The Life Science Cluster.

Sammen med Oslo Cancer Cluster, Norway Health Tech, Norwegian Smart Care Cluster og Biotech North skal The Life Science Cluster sørge for en samlet innsats for å presentere norske bedrifter til nye og eksisterende investorer klyngene har kontakt med. Prosjektet er støttet av Viken fylkeskommune over to år.

– Klyngene har allerede et godt samarbeid på flere områder. Nå styrker vi dette ytterligere, og systematiserer og samordner arbeidet med investorer og internasjonalisering. Prosjektet vil lage en metodikk for å presentere norske selskaper for nordiske og internasjonale investorer. Målet er at enda flere bedrifter skal lykkes når vi samarbeider, sier Hanne Mette Dyrlie Kristensen, CEO, The Life Science Cluster.

Urolige markeder og lavere investeringsvilje

Livsvitenskap og helseteknologi er motsykliske næringer og skaper løsninger verden trenger i omstilling og utfordrende tider, men til og med denne typen selskaper opplever at investorene har færre midler tilgjengelig enn tidligere.

– Prosjektet har vært planlagt en god stund, men timingen er dessverre svært god nå. Vi ser at urolige finansmarkeder gjør det vanskeligere for selskaper å hente nok investeringer til å følge planlagte utviklingsløp. Det er alvorlig. Løsninger som møter mange av de store helseutfordringene som kommer i årene framover, risikerer å ikke blir realisert fordi bedriftene mangler midler, sier Lena Nymo Helli, CEO, Norway Health Tech.

Lange og kompliserte utviklingsløp

Bedrifter som utvikler løsninger innen helse og livsvitenskap må gjennom lange, kompliserte og kapitalintensive utviklingsløp med høy risiko. Det betyr at selskapene har behov for ulike investorer til ulik tid i utviklingsløpet – helt fra forskning til produktlansering.

Selskapene trenger derfor investorer med ulik kompetanse, med ulik markedsforståelse og ulike nettverk i ulike markeder. Selskapene finner noen slike investorer i Norge, men langt fra nok til å bringe produktene sine helt frem til markedet. Klyngene med sine solide internasjonale nettverk er svært viktige for at selskapene skal finne riktig kompetanse til riktig tid i utviklingsløpet.

– Vi vet at selskapene ikke bare trenger penger, men kompetent kapital, spesielt i begynnelsen av utviklingsløpet. Da er det svært viktig å finne riktig investor. Alle klyngene legger til rette for dette og har gjort det i flere år. Gjennom dette samarbeidet øker vi både tilgangene til antall investorer og profesjonaliserer måten vi presenterer selskapene våre til dem, sier Ketil Widerberg, General Manager, Oslo Cancer Cluster.

– Helseteknologiselskaper utvikler nye løsninger, men det tar ofte lang tid å få dem tatt i bruk i helsetjenesten. Kompetente investorer kan bringe kapital og erfaring om hva som har fungert i andre land, og bidra til at selskapene både står ut løpet, og får nye løsninger fortere til pasienter, helsevesen og samfunnet, sier Arild Kristensen, CEO, Norwegian Smart Care Cluster.

Banebrytende klyngesamarbeid

Klynger er døråpnere for privat kapital. De fem klyngene samarbeider i dette prosjektet om å utvikle eksisterende investornettverk, samt å kartlegge og mobilisere investorer som har interesser innen og på tvers av teknologiområder. På denne måten ønsker de samarbeidende klyngene å øke interessen nasjonalt og internasjonalt for norske teknologier og selskaper.

– Våre medlemsselskap konkurrerer i et internasjonalt marked. Når investorer søker etter gode investeringsprosjekter, er de i utgangspunktet ikke opptatt av hvilket land prosjektet har opprinnelse i. De er i alle fall ikke opptatt av hvilke deler av et norsk økosystem det tilhører. Vi er svært bevisste på at vi med dette samler oss som en norsk kraftfull satsing for livsvitenskap og helseteknologi – som har mange interessante løsninger for de rette investorene, både norske og internasjonale. Det sier Line Kjelstrup, Cluster Manager, Biotech North.

Viktig eksportområde med stort vekstpotensial

Norge står overfor en stor omstilling, og har behov for nye eksportområder. Helseteknologi og livsvitenskap er allerede et betydelig eksportområde i Norge, men har potensial for å bli mye større. I 2021 eksporterte helseindustrien for 27 mrd. i 2021. Det viser en rapport fra Menon om verdien av norsk helseindustri fra 2022. Klyngene var derfor sentrale i arbeidet med felles innspill fra bransjen som på slutten av 2022 ble sendt til Nasjonalt eksportråd.

– Vi må tiltrekke flere investeringer til Norge, slik at mer av verdiskapingen av norske innovasjoner forblir i Norge. Slik kan de bedriftene vi nå jobber med nå bidra til at Norge når målet om doblet fastlandseksport innen 2030, sier Hanne Mette Dyrlie Kristensen, CEO, The Life Science Cluster.

 

Inven2 som er teknologioverføringskontor for Helse Sør-Øst, Universitetet i Oslo og Oslo Universitetssykehus, SPARK Norway som er del av UiO Livsvitenskap, og Veksthuset for verdiskapning ved UiO er også partnere i prosjektet.

Inkubatorene Aleap, Sharelab, OCC Incubator og Aggrator er klyngenes faste samarbeidspartnere og støtter prosjektet.

 

Metodikk for samordnet investorarbeid for livsvitenskap og helseteknologi

Et felles prosjekt fra helse- og livsvitenskapsklyngene i Norge.

Ledet av The life Science Cluster

Partnere: Oslo Cancer Cluster, Norway Health Tech, Norwegian Smart Care Cluster og Biotech North

Tilskudd fra Viken fylkeskommune over to år

Klyngene skal samarbeide om å presentere norske selskaper for nordiske og internasjonale investorer.

 

Clusters collaborate to strengthen work with investors

The clusters have a unique role to increase private investments in Norwegian industry. Now five Norwegian clusters in health and life science are teaming up to work with investors and internationalization, so that even more Norwegian companies will succeed. The project is led by The Life Science Cluster.

Together with Oslo Cancer Cluster, Norway Health Tech, Norwegian Smart Care Cluster and Biotech North, The Life Science Cluster will ensure a coordinated effort to present Norwegian companies to new and existing investors that the clusters are in contact with. The project is supported by Viken County for the duration of two years.

“The clusters already collaborate well in several areas. Now we are strengthening this further, and systematizing and coordinating the work with investors and internationalization. The project will create a methodology for presenting Norwegian companies to Nordic and international investors. The goal is that even more companies will succeed when we collaborate,” said Hanne Mette Dyrlie Kristensen, CEO, The Life Science Cluster.

Volatile markets and lower interest to invest

Life science and health technology are countercyclical industries and create solutions that the world needs during transitional and challenging times, but even these types of companies experience that investors have less funds available than before.

“The project has been planned for a while, but the timing is unfortunately very good now. We see that volatile financial markets make it more difficult for companies to raise enough funds to follow their planned course of development. This is serious. Solutions that answer many of the big health challenges in the years to come, run the risk of not being realized because companies lack funds,” said Lena Nymo Helli, CEO, Norway Health Tech.

Long and complicated courses of development

Companies that develop solutions in health and life science need to go through long, complicated and capital intensive courses of development with high risk. This means that the companies need different investors at different times during the course of development – all the way from research to product launch.

The companies therefore need investors with different competencies, different market understandings and contact networks in different markets. The companies find such investors in Norway, but far from enough to bring their products all the way to market. The clusters with their solid international networks are very important for the companies to find the right competency at the right time in their courses of development.

“We know that companies not only need funds, but also competent capital, especially in the beginning of the course of development. Then it is extremely important to find the right investor. All the clusters facilitate this and have been doing so for years. Through this collaboration, we are increasing both the access to the number of investors and professionalizing the way we present companies to them,” said Ketil Widerberg, general manager, Oslo Cancer Cluster.

“Health technology companies develop new solutions, but it often takes a long time to implement them in the health service. Competent investors can bring capital and experience about what has worked in other countries, and contribute to the companies getting through the course of development, and get new solutions faster to the patients, health sector and society,” said Arild Kristensen, CEO, Norwegian Smart Care Cluster.

Groundbreaking cluster collaboration

Clusters open the doors to private capital. The five clusters collaborate in this project on developing the existing investor networks, as well as mapping and mobilizing investors that have an interest in and across technology sectors. In this way the collaborating clusters wish to increase the interest nationally and internationally for Norwegian technologies and companies.

“Our member companies compete in an international market. When investors look for good investment projects, they are not too concerned with which country the project originates from. They are in any case not concerned with which parts of the Norwegian ecosystem it belongs to. We are very aware that we are gathering ourselves as one Norwegian strong initiative for life science and health technology – that has many interesting solutions for the right investors, both Norwegian and international,” said Line Kjelstrup, Cluster Manager, Biotech North.

Important area for export with big growth potential

Norway faces a huge transition, and needs new areas of export. Health technology and life science are already two important export industries in Norway, but have the potential of becoming even larger. The health industry exported for NOK 27 bn in 2021, according to a 2022 report from Menon Economics about the value of the health industry. The clusters were central in the creation of a coordinated response from the industry in the end of 2022, which was sent to the National Council for Export.

“We need to attract more investments to Norway, so that more of the value creation from Norwegian innovations stay in Norway. In that way, the companies we work with now, can contribute to Norway reaching the goal of doubled mainland exports before 2030,” said Hanne Mette Dyrlie Kristensen, CEO, The Life Science Cluster.

The post Klynger samarbeider om å styrke investor-arbeidet first appeared on Oslo Cancer Cluster.

The organisers, sponsors, speakers and moderaters of Cancer Crosslinks 2023 contributed to an engaging educational programme, covering the lastest developments in cancer research. Photo: Fartein Rudjord / Oslo Cancer Cluster

A leading Norwegian oncology arena

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Cancer Crosslinks 2023 was a day of inspiration, insights, and interactions for professionals from across the cancer field in Norway and beyond.

The 15th Cancer Crosslinks was held in Oslo Cancer Cluster Innovation Park on 26 January 2023, gathering the oncology community for a day of engaging talks from renowned international and Norwegian experts.

The event was attended by more than 300 people on-site, including oncologists, hematologists, researchers, industry representatives, health authority officials, and more. More than 250 people followed digitally from across Norway.

Mariam Jamal-Hanjani, Cancer Crosslinks 2023,  Photo: Fartein Rudjord / Oslo Cancer Cluster

The common theme throughout the conference was The Hallmarks of Cancer, referring to Douglas Hanahan’s and Robert Weinberg’s seminal publications from 2000, 2011 and 2022.

Despite the impressive progress there are still unmet needs in many cancer types and for countless patients.

“We were honoured that Douglas Hanahan gave the opening keynote and perfectly set the scene for this year’s programme. The Hallmarks of Cancer have been an inspiration for Cancer Crosslinks since the first meeting in 2009. Since then, the understanding of cancer biology has tremendously increased and novel, effective treatments have been developed. Despite the impressive progress there are still unmet needs in many cancer types and for countless patients. We hope that Cancer Crosslinks again stimulates new ideas, debates, translational research and collaboration,” said Jutta Heix, Head of International Affairs at the Oslo Cancer Cluster and Program Lead for Cancer Crosslinks.

Inspiring insights

The programme included presentations from a group of passionate clinicians and scientists, who shared their recent research and shed light on different “hallmarks”. They also discussed how to translate these into novel treatment concepts for solid and haematological tumours.

One of the speakers at the conference, Jakob Kather, Professor of Clinical Artificial Intelligence, Else Kröner Fresenius Center for Digital Health, Technical University Dresden; Germany, said:

”I find it really striking that you [the organizers] manage to identify the topics of tomorrow early on. I think the history of Cancer Crosslinks shows you have anticipated the future trends a couple of years before others.”

Cancer Crosslinks 2023 covered a variety of themes spanning from lung cancer evolution, epigenetics, and tumor metabolism to cell therapy, precision medicine and artificial intelligence biomarkers.

Tom Erkers, Cancer Crosslinks 2023. Photo: Fartein Rudjord / Oslo Cancer Cluster

Another speaker, Tom Erkers, Assistant Professor, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden, commented:

“This conference is great because it has a broad scope and it includes the whole life science community, including students, researchers, clinicians, and pharmaceutical companies. It presents a great opportunity to share research, speak with collaborators, and develop new ideas.”

Discussing ideas and concepts

For Norwegian researchers, Cancer Crosslinks has become an arena where they gain first-hand knowledge of developments in the cancer field globally, talk with international experts face-to-face and advance their own research in collaboration with colleagues.

One of the moderators Eli Sihn Samdal Steinskog, Consultant Oncologist, Department of Oncology, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen, Norway said:

“This is an exciting opportunity to hear from people who are at the frontlines of their fields about the latest research developments. The conference is also a great arena for networking and potential collaboration.”

Eli Sihn Samdal Steinskog and Katarina Puco, Cancer Crosslinks 2023. Photo: Fartein Rudjord / Oslo Cancer Cluster

Her co-moderator Katarina Puco, Senior Consultant Oncologist at Oslo University Hospital, Institute of Cancer research & Lovisenberg Diaconal Hospital, Oslo, added:

“Cancer Crosslinks offers a unique chance to hear still (or yet) unpublished data and talk directly to the speakers. This gives one new perspectives on what to do in one’s own research and a possibility to establish new collaborations.”

The milieu in Trondheim was also represented by May-Britt Tessem, Associate Professor/Research Scientist, Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, NTNU, who contributed as moderator:

“It is fantastic that Cancer Crosslinks gathers so many researchers and clinicians from across Norway and within various cancer fields. I think it is smart to meet in this way and have an arena to meet, but also experience excellent international speakers.”

Stimulating new collaborations

An important feature of Cancer Crosslinks is the lively networking, which aims to promote new collaborations and knowledge exchange between all participants.

Networking break at Cancer Crosslinks 2023. Photo: Fartein Rudjord / Oslo Cancer Cluster

Aslan Tasdogan, Associate Professor, German Cancer Consortium (DKTK), Institute for Tumor Metabolism, Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Essen, Germany, commented:

“Cancer Crosslinks was one of the best conferences in recent years. I have made a lot of new connections with excellent scientists. I look forward to continuing to exchange ideas with my Norwegian colleagues.”

Alpaslan (Aslan) Tasdogan, Cancer Crosslinks 2023. Photo: Fartein Rudjord / Oslo Cancer Cluster

Another speaker, Mariam Jamal-Hanjani, Group Leader, Cancer Metastasis Lab, CRUK Lung Cancer Centre of Excellence, UCL Cancer Institute; Senior Clinical Lecturer and Honorary Consultant in Translational Lung Oncology, UCL Hospital, London, UK, said:

“It has been wonderful to meet Norwegian oncologists and clinicians with great interest in academic research and basic biology. I have already established ideas with new collaborators, so I feel very positive about what we take away from this meeting. It is not only our ability to share data between scientists and clinicians, and our ability to think about concepts in oncology and how that might impact how we treat our patients, but also the ability to do good research across countries.”

A special addition to Cancer Crosslinks 2023 was the afternoon networking session, which included a musical performance, an unveiling of building plans for Oslo Cancer Cluster Innovation Park and mingling into the evening.

Jakob Nikolas Kather, Cancer Crosslinks 2023. Photo: Fartein Rudjord / Oslo Cancer Cluster

Prof. Kather further commented:

“I am very impressed by the conference, the active participation of the community, the line-up of speakers and the lively discussions between the speakers and the audience. My impression is that the Norwegian cancer research environment is very innovative and that it is successful at integrating the scientific methods with new technological approaches. It is a great place to think about the cancer diagnostics and treatments of the future – and to make them a reality.”

Cancer Crosslinks 2023 was kindly supported by Bristol Myers Squibb and Eli Lilly and Company.

The event was also covered by HealthTalk (in Norwegian). Read the article and watch the interview here.

 

 

The post A leading Norwegian oncology arena first appeared on Oslo Cancer Cluster.