Grant received in 2024.

DCCC has funded 192,444 DKK to the initiative.

In Denmark, approximately 2,000 cases of urinary tract tumours are diagnosed each year. Around half of the cases are invasive and many have metastases at the time of diagnosis. Treatment for high-risk or metastatic urinary cancer has seen significant advancements with new methods such as immune checkpoint inhibitors and targeted therapy, which have improved survival rates for patients. These new strategies include maintenance immunotherapy and adjuvant immunotherapy post-surgery for high-risk UC.

Recent research indicates that a combination of targeted chemotherapy and immunotherapy as first-line treatment can double the survival rates for patients. This treatment method is expected to soon be approved by the Danish Medicines Council, which will lead to significant changes in existing treatment protocols. These changes will create an urgent need to evaluate the effectiveness of both the initial treatment and subsequent stages of treatment, which have not yet been tested in this new context.

The purpose of the initiative is to create a national study infrastructure that facilitates the systematic collection of urinary cancer data.

Funding from the DCCC will support the creation of RWE protocols, participant information, collaboration agreements, schedules, data analysis plans, and educational sessions and project group meetings. Additionally, funds will be allocated to employ an administrative staff member to set up databases and assist with application approvals.

Multidisciplinary organisation
This project is supported by the DOncUro. The national DMCG, DaBlaCa, and the Danish Bladder society also support this project. The project team is multidisciplinary, including oncologists, urologists, a patient representative, a pathologist, a physicist, and nurses.

Project stakeholder

Capital Region of Denmark (Herlev)

• Line Hammer Dohn, Consultant, MD, PhD, Department of Oncology, Herlev Hospital. Primary contact: line.hammer.dohn.02@regionh.dk
• Gitte Lam, Consultant, Department of Urology, Herlev Hospital
  Lina Frid Möller Åström, Medical Physicist, Department of Oncology, Herlev Hospital

Capital Region of Denmark (Rigshospitalet)

• Helle Pappot, Professor, MD, DMSc, Department of Oncology, Rigshospitalet. Department of Clinical Medicine, University of Copenhagen
• Birgitte Grønkær Toft, Consultant, MD, Department of Pathology, Rigshospitalet
• Ulla Joensen, Consultant, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Urology, Rigshospitalet

Region Zealand

• Dorthe Yakymenko, Specialist Consultant, MD, Onkologisk Afdeling, Næstved Hospital, Zealand University Hospital
• Kirsten Legaard Jakobsen, Medical Physicist, Department of Oncology, Næstved Hospital, Zealand University Hospital
• Juan Luis Vásquez, Consultant, PhD, Department of Urology, Næstved Hospital, Zealand University Hospital

Region of Southern Denmark

• Niels Viggo Jensen, Consultant, MD, Department of Oncology, Odense University Hospital
• Lærke Kjær Tolstrup, Nurse, PhD, postdoc, Clinic for Late Effects, Department of Oncology, Odense University Hospital
• Søren Nielsen Agergaard, Medical Physicist, Department of Oncology, Odense University Hospital
• Per Søndergaard Holt, Consultant, Department of Urinary Tract Surgery, Odense University Hospital

Central Denmark Region

• Anne Birgitte Als, Consultant, MD, PhD, Department of Oncology, Aarhus University Hospital
• Jørgen Bjerregaard Jensen, Professor, MD, DMSc, Department of Urology, Aarhus University Hospital
• Jolanta Hansen, Medical Physicist, PhD, Department of Oncology, Aarhus University Hospital

North Denmark Region

• Andreas Carus, Consultant, MD, PhD, Department of Oncology, Aalborg University Hospital
• Steffen Borup Vestergaard, Medical Physicist, Department of Oncology, Aalborg University Hospital

Patient representative

• John Redlef, Danish Bladder society