In his doctoral thesis, Master of Science Tuomo Virtanen investigated genetic and epigenetic changes underlying prostate cancer progression and treatment resistance. The androgen receptor (AR) plays a central role in prostate cancer by regulating genes that drive cancer cell growth and survival. Consequently, therapies targeting AR signalling are central to the treatment of aggressive prostate cancer. However, cancer cells eventually develop resistance to these therapies, primarily through various mutations and other genetic alterations that activate the AR. The study utilised cell-free DNA, which enables the characterisation of cancer tumours using blood samples. The study included more than 3,000 blood plasma samples collected from patients with metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, enabling one of the most comprehensive characterisations to date of androgen receptor alterations in treatment-resistant prostate cancer. The study found that different AR alterations are associated with different treatment responses. In particular, tumours harbouring an AR alteration that renders the receptor constitutively active responded poorly to treatment. The dissertation also identified changes in the three-dimensional structure of the prostate cancer cell genome using Hi-C sequencing. These changes were associated with regions where AR binds to DNA, potentially indicating a link between AR signalling and the structural organization of the genome. Together, these findings advance our understanding of how prostate cancer evolves and adapts to treatment, providing insights that may help inform future research for personalized treatment strategies.
The doctoral dissertation of MSc Tuomo Virtanen titled Genetic and Epigenetic Alterations in Prostate Cancer Evolution, will be publicly examined at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology of Tampere University on Friday 20 November 2026. The field of the dissertation is bioinformatics.
The opponent will be Docent Johan Lindberg from the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden. The custos will be Professor Matti Nykter from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University