Clinical and Translational Research Program of Genito Urinary Medical Oncology

The workgroup Experimental Therapy of Urological Cancers is an integral component of the Department of Medical Oncology and aims to initiate and collaborate in investigator as well as Industry initiated and sponsored clinical trials in Urological cancers. The spectrum includes the entire range of metastatic and non- metastatic and phase 1-3 clinical trials as well as post-marketing (phase 4) health- economics studies. The Division leads (RdW founding and current Chairman) the Dutch Uro-Oncology Study group (DUOS) and collaborates with several National groups in Europe, and in the United States (PCCTC).

The Division is closely linked to the workgroups Early Clinical Trials, Personalized Medicine/ lab Translational Pharmacology, and the lab Translational Cancer Genomics and Proteomics, the latter comprising several clinical and translational research programs on Circulating Tumors cells and exosomes, including gene profiling (prostate cancer and bladder cancer).

The section also works together with the Center of Personalized Cancer Treatment (CPCT), a collaborative network of Erasmus MC with several academic and supraregional hospitals in the Netherlands.

• Phase 1-3 clinical trials in prostate cancer, non-muscle invasive, as well as muscle invasive and advanced bladder cancer and renal cancer .
• Ongoing Clinical/translational studies;
• RESPONDER; a biomarker discovery study with pembrolizumab in urothelial cell cancer
• RadiumInsight ; a biomarker discovery study with Radium223
• DRUP
• CIRCLE
• CIRCUS
• Cross-resistance between taxanes and AR targeted agents; preclinical research

• AR splice variants in circulating tumor cells of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer: relation with outcome to cabazitaxel.
  Mol Oncol. 2019 Jun 10. doi: 10.1002/1878-0261.12529.
  PMID: 31180178
• A bypass mechanism of abiraterone-resistant prostate cancer: Accumulating CYP17A1 substrates activate androgen receptor signaling.
  Prostate. 2019 Jun;79(9):937-948. doi: 10.1002/pros.23799. Epub 2019 Apr 24.
  PMID: 31017696
• AR splice variants in circulating tumor cells of patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer: relation with outcome to cabazitaxel.
  Mol Oncol. 2019 Jun 10. doi: 10.1002/1878-0261.12529.
  PMID: 31180178
• A bypass mechanism of abiraterone-resistant prostate cancer: Accumulating CYP17A1 substrates activate androgen receptor signaling.
  Prostate. 2019 Jun;79(9):937-948. doi: 10.1002/pros.23799. Epub 2019 Apr 24.
  PMID: 31017696
• PD-L1 Antibody Comparison in Urothelial Carcinoma.
  Eur Urol. 2019 Mar;75(3):538-540. doi: 10.1016/j.eururo.2018.11.002. Epub 2018 Nov 27.
  PMID: 30497882
• An open-label, multicenter, phase Ib study investigating the effect of apalutamide on ventricular repolarization in men with castration-resistant prostate cancer.
  Cancer Chemother Pharmacol. 2018 Sep;82(3):457-468. doi: 10.1007/s00280-018-3632-6. Epub 2018 Jul 5.
  PMID: 29974203
• Health-Related Quality-of-Life Analysis From KEYNOTE-045: A Phase III Study of Pembrolizumab Versus Chemotherapy for Previously Treated Advanced Urothelial Cancer.
  J Clin Oncol. 2018 Jun 1;36(16):1579-1587. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2017.76.9562. Epub 2018 Mar 28.
  PMID: 29590008
• Testosterone Diminishes Cabazitaxel Efficacy and Intratumoral Accumulation in a Prostate Cancer Xenograft Model.
  EBioMedicine. 2018 Jan;27:182-186. doi: 10.1016/j.ebiom.2017.12.024. Epub 2017 Dec 20.
  PMID: 29276148
• Circulating Tumor Cell Number as a Response Measure of Prolonged Survival for Metastatic Castration-Resistant Prostate Cancer: A Comparison With Prostate-Specific Antigen Across Five Randomized Phase III Clinical Trials.
  J Clin Oncol. 2018 Feb 20;36(6):572-580. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2017.75.2998. Epub 2017 Dec 22.
  PMID: 29272162
• Influence of Enzalutamide on Cabazitaxel Pharmacokinetics: a Drug-Drug Interaction Study in Metastatic Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer (mCRPC) Patients.
  Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Feb 1;24(3):541-546. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-17-2336. Epub 2017 Nov 17.
  PMID: 29150561
• Ramucirumab plus docetaxel versus placebo plus docetaxel in patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma after platinum-based therapy (RANGE): a randomised, double-blind, phase 3 trial.
  Lancet. 2017 Nov 18;390(10109):2266-2277. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32365-6. Epub 2017 Sep 12.
  PMID: 28916371

Within Erasmus MC

• Department of Medical Oncology; workgroups Early Clinical Trials, Translational Pharmacology and personalized medicine, and Translational Cancer Genomics and Proteomics
• Departments in Erasmus MC; Urology, Pathology, Radiotherapy, Radiology and Nuclear Medicine and Computational Sciences

Outside of Erasmus MC

• Foundation DUOS (Dutch Uro-Oncology Study Group)
• CPCT Center for Personalized treatment, a consortium led by Netherlands Cancer Institute, Utrecht University Hospital and Erasmus MC Cancer Institute 
• The Prostate Cancer Clinical Trials Consortium (PCCTC)/Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

• Prof Ronald de Wit, workgroup leader Genito-Urinary Clinical Research 
• Prof Stefan Sleijfer, PI of the research program in liquid biopsies and Personalized treatment
• Prof Ron Mathijssen, workgroupleader of Translational Pharmacology 
• Dr Martijn Lolkema, workgroup leader Early Clinical Trials, translational research in prostate cancer and co-PI of the Departments’ Center of Personalized treatment
• Dr Astrid van der Veldt, Medical Oncologist; special interest: Immunotherapy clinical and translational research
• Debbie Robbrecht, Medical Oncologist: special interest Clinical research, including early clinical trials