The overall objective of the project is to develop new non-invasive or minimally invasive molecular biomarkers to improve treatment of advanced prostate cancer and better predictability of the effect of the current secondary hormone/chemotherapy treatments in these patients.

These biomarkers will help guide us in relation to which patients should be offered chemotherapy and which patients would benefit from secondary hormone treatment as first choice for prostate cancer patients where the primary hormone treatment is no longer adequate.

In future, we will systematically collect blood- and urine samples from patients where the primary hormone treatment is no longer effective enough (the patient is diagnosed with castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC)). Furthermore, if possible up to four tissue samples will also be taken from the prostate at the beginning of secondary hormone treatment/chemotherapy.

We will look for molecular differences in the primary cancer tissue and compare this with the molecular differences in the blood/urine samples taken at the same time. These extra tissue samples are taken so we can gain more fundamental knowledge about the underlying molecular conditions in prostate cancer tissue during treatment with secondary hormone treatment and/or chemotherapy.