What can contribute to better treatment, less pain, and improved follow-up care for children and families? This was a recurring theme as healthcare professionals, researchers, and students gathered for this year’s InteRSurg Research Conference at Oslo University Hospital.

The conference brought together nurses, physicians, researchers, and students from across the Nordic region for a day of professional learning, knowledge sharing, and engaging discussions across disciplines and professions.

Tom Hemming Karlsen, Head of Research in the Division of Surgery and Specialized Medicine, at Oslo University Hospital, opened the conference by highlighting the importance of strong research environments and interprofessional collaboration.

What happens when a cell loses a protein that repairs damaged DNA? The usual expectation is straightforward: damage accumulates, vital systems falter, and the cell becomes more vulnerable.
A new study from Nicola Montaldo, Project group leader of the Mitonuclear DNA Maintenance and Transcriptional Control group, in collaboration with Hilde Nilsen’s group, suggests that mitochondria can respond differently. Montaldo and his team found that human cells lacking NTHL1, a DNA-repair enzyme, accumulated damage in their mitochondrial DNA, but also activated a response that increased mitochondrial capacity and improved their ability to withstand certain forms of stress. The findings, published in Nucleic Acids Research, challenge the long-standing assumption that mitochondrial DNA damage necessarily leads to declining mitochondrial function.

Karolina Spustova, researcher in the Cancer molecular medicine group headed by Prof Jorrit Enserink, has been awarded 6.6 million NOK from the Research Council of Norway. The project, TiGeR, will investigate how cells regulate selective autophagy. 

Cells continuously remove damaged or excess components through a process called selective autophagy. This quality control is essential for keeping cells healthy, and when it fails it has been linked to neurodegenerative diseases, metabolic disorders and ageing. Researchers have learned a lot about how selective autophagy works, but little is known about its regulators.  

Recommended sites for current OUS research news:

From Oslo University Hospital, in Norwegian:
OUS Innsikt – ny forskning, innovasjon og behandling - channel for science communication
More news from OUS (oslo-universitetssykehus.no)

From UiO and centres of excellence (UiO/OUS):
News from the Inst. of Clinical Medicine, UiO
Research news - UiO
CanCell - Centre for Cancer Cell Reprogramming 
Cresco - Centre for Embryology and Healthy Development 
PRIMA - Precision Immunotherapy Alliance - Norwegian version
Hybrid Technology Hub - Centre for Organ on a Chip-Technology

A commission report on precision medicine in cancer was published in "Lancet Oncology" on September 25. Kjetil Taskén is the only Norwegian author involved in this work, and OUS is listed as a contributing institution. In conjunction with this project, Taskén was invited to write a review article on the status of cancer genomics and precision oncology in Europe. He led this work, together with Live Fagereng from OUS (first author), alongside 25 other principal authors from various European countries and 159 consortium authors - a broad collaboration designed to capture the full scope of the initiative across Europe. The resulting article was published in "The Lancet Regional Health – Europe" simultaneously with the "Lancet Oncology" report.  This European status overview is one of several papers being released alongside the commision report; the aim is to provide a comprehensive worldwide picture of the situation. The publication is scheduled to coincide with the UICC World Cancer Congress in Hong Kong on September 25, aligning with the release of the Lancet Oncology report and other Lancet journal publications.

A large Scandinavian phase 3 clinical trial shows that initiating aspirin after curative-intent treatment of colorectal cancer liver metastases does not reduce the risk of recurrence. The findings are published in The Lancet Gastroenterology & Hepatology, with Sheraz Yaqub as first author and Kjetil Taskén as last author.
“Aspirin is a well-established, inexpensive, and widely available drug, and there is considerable interest in whether it can also reduce the risk of cancer recurrence. Our findings demonstrate why such treatments must be tested in rigorous randomised trials before being adopted for new patient populations,” said Professor Sheraz Yaqub of Oslo University Hospital and the University of Oslo, who led the ASAC trial, a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial conducted at 14 hospitals in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.

Policy debates about R&D careers draw on case studies and personal accounts, but survey data from the people working in R&D is scarce. As someone working the cutting edge of R&D, your experiences and perspectives will help policymakers and employers make better-informed decisions about R&D careers.
The OECD-EU R&D Careers Survey gives a voice to the people working in research and innovation, gathering the international evidence needed to better understand and support their careers.

Take 10 minutes to have your say, or share the link with someone who you think will find it of interest.

Take the survey Deadline: October 16th.

The European Polyp Surveillance (EPoS) study is the world’s largest randomized study project investigating the follow-up of patients with colorectal polyps. The project involves nearly 21,000 patients across eight European countries. On September 17, The New England Journal of Medicine published two scientific articles presenting the initial results from the EPoS study. The EPoS project is led by the Clinical Effectiveness Research Group at Oslo University Hospital and the University of Oslo. EPoS could mean that millions of people worldwide who have had intestinal polyps removed require fewer colonoscopies than they do today. This saves hospitals money and reduces the burden and potential complications for patients. The results are expected to change clinical practice globally.

Oslo University Hospital coordinates PREDI-LYNCH, a European project developing less invasive ways to detect cancer early in people living with Lynch syndrome. On 8–9 September the consortium met at the Comenius University Science Park in Bratislava for its General Assembly and annual meeting, hosted by Geneton and Comenius University.
"Our ambition is to generate evidence that can guide clinical practice and make earlier detection more accessible across Europe," says PREDI-LYNCH Coordinator Mev Dominguez-Valentin of the Department of Tumour Biology, Institute for Cancer Research. "This meeting helps us agree the next steps towards that goal."

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Trond Olav Berg