Polish-Norwegian joint research project performed in the frame of the Norwegian Financial Mechanism (Norwegian Grants).
Project realized in the frame of the GRIEG Program organized by the National Research Centre in co-operation with the Research Council of Norway.
Project number 2019/34/H/NZ7/00503.
Breast cancer is among the most frequent types of cancer and the main causes of cancer-related deaths among women worldwide. Hence, it is one of the major health problems also in Poland and Norway. Prognosis of this malignancy, in addition to treatment efficacy, greatly depends on the stage of the disease at diagnosis. Therefore, many developed countries (including Poland and Norway) introduced mammography screening programs aimed at middle-aged women. However, due to several shortcomings of the current imaging techniques, supplementary molecular markers that could help early detection of breast cancer are warranted.
Although several risk factors of breast cancer are known, these are only associated with a fraction of the breast cancer cases. Blood metabolomics is a very powerful approach to reveal systemic conditions in the human body, particularly those related to disease development and progression. Therefore, blood metabolome is an emerging source of cancer biomarkers. However, little is known about metabolites that could be associated with cancer-promoting conditions and/or the existence of preclinical cancer, i.e. potential biomarkers feasible for breast cancer risk assessment and early detection.
The SEMPRA project concerns the possibility to estimate the risk of breast cancer based on a novel combination of molecular features with anthropometric and lifestyle-related features. We hypothesize that disease-related features of metabolism could be detected in serum, reflecting cancer-promoting conditions (e.g. chronic inflammation) and/or the existence of early “preclinical/symptomless” stages of the disease. We hypothesize that such features (metabolites) can be detected in the serum of individuals who were diagnosed with breast cancer a few years after blood sample collection, even though they were considered “healthy” at that time. Hence, the general hypothesis driving this project states that the combination of a serum metabolome profile and lifestyle-related risk factors will allow building a joint classification model for stratification of breast cancer risk in a healthy population.
Two complementary analytical metabolomics tools based on mass spectrometry and magnetic resonance spectroscopy will be used, which increases the possibility to detect and identify molecular components associated with breast cancer. Sample and data repository from a large population-based study performed in the Trøndelag region of Norway (HUNT2) will be involved, which provides a unique opportunity to work with a sufficiently large cohort of individuals where relevant medical, anthropometric and lifestyle data, as well as a long-term follow-up, are available. Furthermore, a reference group of women with actual (clinical) cancer (breast cancer and other solid cancers) will be recruited to the study.
Specific aims of the project include:
The SEMPRA project provides a unique possibility to explore the underlying biological mechanisms in early breast cancer development, and possibly identify molecular targets to hinder cancer progression. The project could bring biomarker candidates to complement and enhance breast cancer screening programs helping to reduce “over-diagnosis” and subsequent “over-treatment” related to false-positive diagnoses. Hence, the project could contribute to pre-diagnostic management, early diagnosis, and successful treatment of breast cancer, which are issues with high health and socioeconomic impact in both participating countries.
MSC-NRIO Gliwice is a medical research institute and one of the largest clinical institutions in Poland (the second largest comprehensive cancer center in Poland). There are about 1,700 employees, 500 hospital beds, and about 35,000 cancer patients treated annually. The scientific staff comprises about 200 researchers and clinicians, including 42 professors. Experimental research in the field of cancer biology has an over 70-year-long tradition (the research group has been involved in many aspects of basic research in oncology since 1948). In 2004 the Research Division was awarded the status of the “National Center of Excellence” by the Polish Ministry of Science. MSC-NRIO Gliwice has well-established scientific cooperation with many leading research and academic centers. Among others, it is a Sister Institution of M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Currently, the Research Division is organized as the Center for Translational Research and Molecular Biology of Cancer. The research staff of the center consists of more than 50 investigators, including 12 professors and 35 post-doctoral researchers. Among the general goals of the center are novel methods of molecular diagnostics and experimental anticancer therapies.
Prof. Piotr Widłak, Ph.D.
Laboratory of Clinical Proteomics
Center for Translational Research and Molecular Biology of Cancer
Karol Jelonek, Ph.D.
Laboratory of Clinical Proteomics
Center for Translational Research and Molecular Biology of Cancer
The Laboratory of Clinical Proteomics, has more than 10 years of experience in MS-based cancer proteomics and metabolomics. The group currently employs 4 research scientists and post-docs (with a background in molecular and medical biology, chemistry and bioinformatics) as well as 3 Ph.D. students. The group has a strong multidisciplinary research co-operation, which include clinicians from clinical units of MSC-NRIO and other medical centers (e.g., Gdańsk Medical University), computer scientist and mathematicians from Silesian University of Technology, as well as mass spectrometrists from other centers (e.g., Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry in Poznan).
NTNU is Norway’s largest university with more than 38,000 students. NTNU awards more than 300 Ph.D. degrees yearly within the fields of technology, science, arts and humanities, social sciences, and medicine and is a major participant in European funded projects including FP7 and Horizon 2020. The Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (MH) was established 40 years ago and is a center for both outstanding research and education. It is responsible for one of the world’s largest health studies (HUNT) and is home to Nobel Prize-winning scientists May Britt and Edvard Moser. MH has 1,200 employees and consists of nine departments along with five specialist centers that were established through highly competitive national grants. Together with St. Olavs Hospital, MH is responsible for Trondheim University Hospital, and the largest medical school in Norway. This close collaboration also ensures strong ties between basic research and patient-related research. Medical technology is a prioritized research area at MH, which is reflected in the research infrastructure available in the Dept. of Circulation and Medical Imaging.
Prof. Tone F. Bathen, Ph.D.
MR Cancer Group
Department of Circulation and Medical Imaging
The MR Cancer Group, headed by Prof. Tone F. Bathen, has more than 25 years of experience from clinical MRI and NMR based metabolomics studies in cancer. The group’s translational approach to cancer research benefits from the close integration between NTNU and St. Olav’s University Hospital. The group currently employs 14 research scientists and post-docs, 14 Ph.D. students, and two senior engineers. The group has built a strong multidisciplinary research network both nationally and internationally, allowing multilevel integration of biological data for improved understanding of the underlying biological processes. The group is internationally recognized for its large-scale MR metabolomics studies of cancer.
The Project Contract UMO-2019/34/H/NZ7/00503 has been signed by the Director of The National Science Centre. Expected date of the Project completion is 28th of February 2024.
Public presentation of the Project (opening event) took place during the annual conference XXIV Gliwice Scientific Meetings. It was connected with the lecture “SEMPRA - Serum metabolome profiling in breast cancer risk assessment: introduction into the Polish-Norwegian project” presented by the Project Leader prof. Piotr Widłak. Additionally, on the same conference Dr. Guro Giskeødegård from NTNU (SEMPRA Project Partner) presented „Serum metabolomics for risk assessment and treatment monitoring of breast cancer”. More information about the event at the conference web page http://gsn.io.gliwice.pl/
The shipment of the HUNT samples from Norway to Poland and Polish samples to Norway was successfully completed.
Metabolites were started to measure by mass spectrometry. Serum samples (1216) will be analyzed on 16 specially designed Biocrates plates.
Photo: Agnieszka Krawczyk
Photo: Agnieszka Krawczyk
We finished the measurment of metabolite concentrations in the HUNT2 samples (actual numer: 906; planned to be carried out: 800) using mass spectrometry.
Due to the change of the place of employment of prof. Piotr Widłak (currently the Medical University of Gdańsk), dr. Karol Jelonek became the project manager.
The „Oko w Oko z Rakiem” foundation and SEMPRA project educates ladies and gentlemen on the prevention and risk factors of breast in the M1 Shopping Center in Zabrze
Photo: Justyna Dec
Presentation of the first results by MSc Katarzyna Mrowiec at the conference: Computational Oncology and Personalized Medicine COPM2022: The challenges of the future
We finished the measurment (by mass spectrometry) of metabolite concentrations in the Polish samples (310): cancer patients (actual number - 215; planned to be recruited - 200) as well as we additionally recruited control group (95 volunteers) that was not planned in the proposal (the latter control group appeared necessarily to check possible systemic differences between Polish and Norwegian cohorts).
The „Oko w Oko z Rakiem” foundation and SEMPRA project once again educate - this time at MDK Bogucice - Zawodzie.
Photo: Justyna Dec
Meeting of the entire SEMPRA project team in Trondheim - discussion on the results and methods so far, planning of further analyzes and publications.
Publication of the Project results titled „Lipoprotein and metabolite associations to breast cancer risk in the HUNT2 study”: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41416-022-01924-1
The fifth charity run co-organized with the „Oko w Oko z Rakiem” Foundation. Several hundred people ran in the area around the National Research Institute of Oncology in Gliwice.
The first Silesian Oncology Conference For Women with Breast Cancer at the Silesian Museum in Katowice co-organized with the „Oko w Oko z Rakiem” Foundation
Photo from the conference materials available online https://www.facebook.com/okowokozrakiem/videos/6345019335511453/
The twenty sixth Gliwice Scientific Meetings. MSc Katarzyna Mrowiec presented poster with the SEMPRA Project results „Comparison of serum metabolome profiles in women with different types of solid cancers and healthy controls”. More information about the event is presented at the conference web page http://gsn.io.gliwice.pl/
Completition of MS and NMR measurements of all 1214 samples and start analyzing the obtained data.
The „Oko w Oko z Rakiem” Foundation and SEMPRA visited Silesian policewomen at the Provincial Police Headquarters in Katowice.
The „Oko w Oko z Rakiem” Foundation and SEMPRA are once again educating together - this time at the University Clinical Center of the Medical University of Silesia in Katowice.
Publication of the Project results titled „Association of serum metabolome profile with the risk of breast cancer in participants of the HUNT2 study”: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/oncology/articles/10.3389/fonc.2023.1116806/full
Meeting of the entire SEMPRA project team in Trondheim - discussion of the obtained results and planning of further analyzes and publications.
19th Annual Conference of the Metabolomics Society METABOLOMICS 2023 in Niagara Falls, Canada. Dr. Karol Jelonek (the only speaker from Poland) gave a lecture on the results of the Project entitled: “Serum metabolome profiles in participants of the HUNT2 study were associated with long-term risk of breast cancer in an age-dependent manner.” Dr. Julia Debik, Dr. Guro F. Giskeødegård and Katarzyna Mrowiec, M.A., presented three posters with the results of the Project. More information about the event can be found on the conference website:https://www.metabolomics2023.org/
The „Oko w Oko z Rakiem” Foundation and SEMPRA run and educate in the Katowice Forest Park.
2nd Silesian Oncology Conference for Women with Breast Cancer at the Silesian Museum in Katowice, co-organized with the "Oko w Oko z Rakiem" Foundation. More information about the event can be found on the conference website: https://www.facebook.com/events/5760488060665396/
3rd Nordic Metabolomics Conference, Trondheim, Norway. During five lecture sessions, our researchers (Julia Debik and Guro F. Giskeødegård) gave presentations. Moreover, scientists from the Polish part of the team (Piotr Widłak, Karol Jelonek and Katarzyna Mrowiec) presented their results during poster sessions. More information about the event can be found on the conference website:https://www.ntnu.edu/isb/nmc2023
Dr Karol Jelonek presented lecture titled “The study of pre-diagnostic serum samples from the Norwegian Trøndelag Health Study (HUNT2 study) shows age-dependent differences linked to breast cancer risk” on the webinar “Population health and cancer: The power of multi-omics in cohort studies”. More information about the event can be found on the webinar website: https://biocrates.com/2023-population-health/
XXVII Gliwice Scientific Meetings. Our researchers (Julia Debik and Guro F. Giskeødegård) gave presentations. Moreover, scientists from the Polish part of the team (Karol Jelonek and Katarzyna Mrowiec) presented their results during poster sessions. The poster presented by Dr. Jelonek titled "Age-dependent differences in serum metabolites linked to breast cancer risk: A high-resolution mass spectrometry study of pre-diagnostic serum samples from the Norwegian Trøndelag Health Study" won a distinction in the competition for the best poster presentation. More information about the event can be found on the conference website: http://gsn.io.gliwice.pl/
