Dr.med. Anna Maria Wirsing disputerer for ph.d.-graden i helsevitenskap og vil offentlig forsvare avhandlingen:
“The immune microenvironment in oral squamous cell carcinoma – characterization and prognostic markers”
Kort sammendrag av avhandlingen:
Oral cancer is an aggressive disease associated with poor survival. The patient's immune reaction to the cancer is crucial to fight the disease and is an important prognostic tool in many cancer types. In cancer tissue from 80 oral cancer patients, the researchers studied the organization and prognostic value of immune cells and immune-regulating components surrounding the cancer cells. These components are good indicators of how the patient’s immune system responds to the cancer. Wirsing and her colleagues found that the presence of specialized blood vessels in the cancer tissue predicts improved survival in oral cancer patients. This is probably because these vessels play a role in the transport of cells that can kill the cancer. In the future, one may take advantage of these vessels to enhance anti-tumor responses in oral cancer patients.
Veiledere
Hovedveileder Førsteamanuensis Elin Synnøve Hadler-Olsen Biveileder Instituttleder Gunbjørg Svineng
Biveileder Professor II Sonja Eriksson Steigen
Biveileder Professor Lars Uhlin Hansen
Bedømmelseskomiteen
Professor Guttorm Haraldsen, Universitetet i Oslo – 1. opponent
Postdoctor Ahmed Al-Samadi, University of Helsinki, Finland – 2. opponent
Professor Elin Synnøve Mortensen, Institutt for medisinsk biologi, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT – Norges arktiske universitet – leder av komité
Disputasleder
Professor Bård Smedsrød, Institutt for medisinsk biologi, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, Universitetet i Tromsø – Norges arktiske universitet
Prøveforelesning over oppgitt emne holdes kl. 10.15, samme sted: “Trends in incidence of oral and oropharyngeal cancer related to intake of tobacco, alcohol and presence of virus”