Lab Mini-tumors Testing Prostate Cancer Treatment Options
Grows patients' prostate tumor samples into lab mini-tumors to test treatments.
Plain-language title generated from the registry record
Registry title: Lab Research Using Mini-tumors to Study Prostate Cancer Treatments
Key facts
- Where
- Heerlen and Maastricht, NetherlandsSee the 3 sites
Where in Netherlands
- Zuyderland Medisch CentrumHeerlen, NetherlandsNot yet recruiting
- Academisch Ziekenhuis MaastrichtMaastricht, NetherlandsNot yet recruiting
- Maastricht Radiation OncologyMaastricht, NetherlandsTaking people
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Trial details
- Who runs it
- Maastricht Radiation Oncology
- Trial code
- NCT07004582
- Record updated
- 23 April 2026
- Original description
For men with an aggressive form of prostate cancer, finding the right and effective treatment right away is challenging. Many of these men face a high risk of cancer recurrence: about half experience a relapse after surgery, and more than a third after undergoing radiation therapy. Men with metastatic prostate cancer have particularly poor prognoses, with a five-year survival rate of only 30% to 50%. In short, it is difficult to predict which treatment, or combination of treatments, will lead to longer survival for this group of men with aggressive (metastatic) prostate cancer.Read full original descriptionShow less
Preclinical ex Vivo Patient-derived 3D Cultures for the Prediction of Prostate Cancer Treatment Response
For men with an aggressive form of prostate cancer, finding the right and effective treatment right away is challenging. Many of these men face a high risk of cancer recurrence: about half experience a relapse after surgery, and more than a third after undergoing radiation therapy. Men with metastatic prostate cancer have particularly poor prognoses, with a five-year survival rate of only 30% to 50%. In short, it is difficult to predict which treatment, or combination of treatments, will lead to longer survival for this group of men with aggressive (metastatic) prostate cancer.
In the laboratory, it is possible to grow small samples of tumors into 3D mini-tumors. These mini-tumors retain the characteristics of the patient's original tumor tissue. Various treatments can be tested on these 3D mini-tumors to determine which therapy is most effective for each individual case. There are currently two techniques available for creating these 3D mini-tumors in the lab. In this project, we aim to investigate which of these two techniques works best in order to test and personalize treatments.
Inclusion: Patients aged 18 years or older; Patients with prostate cancer; Patients planned for HDR brachytherapy treatment for high-risk or recurrent prostate cancer or transperineal prostate biopsy with MRI-suspected metastatic prostate cancer with at least clinical stage T3-4.
Exclusion: Patients younger than 18 years; Patients of whom it is not possible to obtain left-over tissue as part of the normal clinical treatment procedure (e.g., if all tumor material is required for the pathologist to make a diagnosis, to stage the patient or to perform a molecular diagnosis).