My research focuses on extracellular vesicles (EVs) in seminal plasma from prostate cancer patients. Exosomes, which are a type of extracellular vesicles (EVs), have recently shown an emerging role in the discovery of biomarkers in liquid biopsies. They are small single-membrane organelles produced by many cell types including cancer cells and are rich in their molecular cargo containing DNA, RNAs and different proteins.
My research goal is to find specific biomarkers for aggressive prostate cancer (PCa) in urine and semen samples. Urine and semen samples are promising sources in the search for new PCa biomarkers as they pose minimal risk and cause less discomfort for patients, which enables more effective and frequent sampling. Additionally, semen is a particularly interesting biofluid since a high proportion of the seminal fluid is produced by the prostate gland. This prostate proximity offers a high potential to identify robust biomarkers that can reliably reflect PCa biology.
