In his doctoral dissertation, MSc Lauri Ryyppö explored how DNA-based bioassays using blood and urine samples can detect ovarian and urothelial cancers in a minimally invasive manner. The research showed that circulating tumor DNA can identify ovarian cancer progression earlier than standard surveillance methods and that urine tumor DNA-based assays can detect urothelial cancer with high sensitivity, potentially reducing the number of invasive cystoscopy procedures. Importantly, the work also revealed that urothelial cancers associated with Lynch syndrome have a distinct mutational profile, lacking common mutations seen in sporadic urothelial cancers. These findings are important because they support the development of sensitive, non-invasive diagnostic and monitoring methods that may benefit both patients and healthcare systems through improved patient care and reduced costs related to cancer diagnostics and surveillance.
The doctoral dissertation of MSc Lauri Ryyppö in the field of Bioinformatics titled Development of DNA-Based Bioassays for Cancer Detection will be publicly examined at the Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology at Tampere University on 29 May 2026.
The Opponent will be Professor Lars Dyrskjøt from Aarhus University, Denmark. The Custos will be Professor Matti Nykter from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Technology, Tampere University