Researcher of the Month

August 2024

Pink Ribbon Research Professor Tuomas Mirtti graduated from the medical school in Turku in 2002 and defended his PhD thesis in 2006. Tuomas did his thesis at the Department of Pathology, University of Turku, and the subject was malignant transformation and tissue biomarkers in prostate cancer. After a couple of years of clinical work, including surgery residency at Lohja hospital, Tuomas decided to follow his deepest interest for cancer research and chose to start pathology training as well. He graduated as a board-certified pathologist from the University of Helsinki in 2011. Since then, Tuomas has had a chance to combine research with clinical work with various arrangements.

Focusing on molecular mechanisms and biomarkers in prostate cancer

Tuomas’s main interests are in urological cancers, especially in prostate cancer, and in its molecular mechanisms and biomarkers, both prognostic and predictive. The interest for the topic started already in the medical school when Tuomas was in the research track and had a summer rotation in a group at pathology department that studied prostate cancer. As a pathologist, Tuomas’s research focus is naturally on tissue specimens and histopathology, which are combined with other data modalities and clinical health records.

More precise diagnostic approaches and individualized treatment options

Currently, Tuomas works in the Research Program in Systems Oncology at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki, where he leads a multidisciplinary research group comprising of e.g., medical students and computational scientists. Tuomas works very closely with clinicians which creates a motivating environment and enables more effective use of clinical data combined with the biological specimens. Tuomas and his research group aim to develop more precise diagnostic approaches as well as find ways to offer more individualized treatment options for especially prostate cancer patients. Real world health data and medical images, including histopathological tissue images and magnetic resonance images, are crucial in their research projects. They also utilize artificial intelligence approaches to combine different data modalities.

A novel way to screen prostate cancer

Recently, Tuomas and his colleagues published a work on prostate cancer screening in JAMA (Prostate Cancer Screening With PSA, Kallikrein Panel, and MRI The ProScreen Randomized Trial). This Finnish ProScreen study is globally the largest population level screening trial in prostate cancer. The first-round results showed that screening which is initiated with biomarkers and continued with MRI could offer an approach to find clinically significant prostate cancers more effectively while avoiding the overdiagnosis of indolent cancers, which is currently an issue in prostate cancer screening and diagnostics. The trial is a good example of multidisciplinary teamwork and shows the possibilities of organizing cancer screening in the Finnish health care system in a novel way. The following years will eventually show whether it is feasible to screen prostate cancer in the way they were doing it. As part of the study, the researchers are collecting a wide range of biospecimens for subprojects that aim to find novel biomarkers to identify clinically relevant prostate cancers.

Physical exercise counterbalance work and helps to concentrate

Outside of work Tuomas tries to take care of himself by running or biking, or by some other sports like tennis. Tuomas mostly bikes, sometimes runs, to work, which is an effective way to combine work travel and physical exercise. Taking care of one’s physical condition also helps in concentrating to the mental challenges at clinical work and research. According to Tuomas, spending time with the family and friends gives a chance to detach from work effectively as well.