EuroPMP members attended the 4th annual Nordic Peritoneal Oncology group meeting on March 9th, 2022 in Helsinki, Finland
On Wednesday March 9th, the Nordic Peritoneal Oncology group was again able to organise a face-to-face meeting in Helsinki. Participants from peritoneal oncology centers in Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland participated, many of whom are also members of the EuroPMP COST Action, including Dr Anna Lepistö, who hosted the meeting. The Helsinki team had put together a varied and interesting scientific program, focusing on the clinical and research activities from the past two years at the participating centers, including activities relating to PMP.
Of particular interest regarding the clinical activities, EuroPMP members Dr Lepistö (Helsinki) and Dr Takala (Oulu) presented data suggesting that taken together suggest that the incidence of PMP may be somewhat higher in Finland than in the other Nordic countries, although exact figures regarding incidence over a longer time period are not available at the moment.
EuroPMP member, Dr Pirjo Nummela from Helsinki, working in the Ristimäki Lab presented results from a new and exciting project. Dr Nummela showed that in their study of CRISPR/Cas9 edited CRC cells they have identified high upregulation of the cAMP cleaving phosphodiesterase, PDE4D, in GNAS R201C mutation bearing cells. By inhibiting cAMP breakdown with PDE4 or PDE4D inhibitors, they could suppress the malignant features, proliferation and invasion, of these GNAS mutated cells.
Professor Kjersti Flatmark, EuroPMP Chair, presented the recently published work on the potential for the use of a peptide vaccine for treatment of patients with GNAS mutated PMP. Professor Flatmark was very pleased to finally have the opportunity to meet the Nordic colleagues physically again.
“It is very nice that we now finally have the opportunity to have a physical meeting. It is important to meet in person and discuss various issues and activities related to peritoneal metastases. I am absolutely certain that this will stimulate even closer collaboration between the Nordic countries “, says Professor Flatmark before she concludes; “There were many good discussions about the current treatment options for the patients, but more importantly, potential collaborative projects were discussed that hopefully will improve the treatment options for this patient group, including PMP “.