Anna Lantz

Anna Lantz is an Associate Professor of Urology at Karolinska Institutet and a Consultant Urologist at Karolinska University Hospital Solna. Her work focuses on the detection and treatment of prostate cancer, integrating clinical practice with independent research at Karolinska Institutet. She is medically responsible for Organized Prostate Cancer Testing (OPT) in the Stockholm Gotland region and leads the Prostate Cancer IRE Study (PRIS), a randomized controlled trial comparing focal to radical treatment in localized prostate cancer.

Dr Lantz defended her thesis, "Outcomes after Surgical Treatment of Localized Prostate Cancer with Focus on Urinary Incontinence and Short-Term Complications, " at Karolinska Institutet in 2015. From 2016 to 2018, Dr Lantz conducted postdoctoral studies in the Department of Medical Epidemiology and Biostatistics as part of the STHLM studies, concentrating on improving prostate cancer detection. Between 2019 and 2020, Dr Lantz completed international postdoctoral studies at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York.

Medically Responsible for Organized Prostate Cancer Testing (OPT) in Region Stockholm Gotland

Prostate cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related deaths among men in Sweden. Research indicates that PSA screening reduces mortality from this disease. However, unorganized PSA testing has proven to be inefficient, inequitable, and resource intensive. In response, the National Board of Health and Welfare (Socialstyrelsen) in 2018 tasked Sweden's municipalities and county councils (SKR) with developing and implementing organized prostate cancer testing (OPT) programs. These programs aim to improve efficiency and equity, reduce resource usage, and explore supplementary diagnostic tests to PSA. Region Stockholm Gotland launched its OPT initiative in 2022, inviting all men aged 50 to undergo testing (approximately 17, 000 men annually). The OPT program encompasses all steps from invitation to biopsy result notification. 

Principal Investigator for Prostate Cancer IRE Study (PRIS)

The PRIS trial is a randomized controlled study comparing focal treatment to radical treatment in localized prostate cancer. Radical treatments often lead to significant morbidity, including incontinence and impotence, while offering only marginal survival benefits over active surveillance. Advances in prostate cancer MRI and efforts to reduce treatment-related morbidity have spurred the development of focal treatment methods over the past decade.

Irreversible Electroporation (IRE) is a novel, image-guided tissue ablation technology that induces cell death through short pulsed electric fields. Unlike thermal therapies, IRE is non-thermal and selectively targets tissue, reducing toxicity to surrounding anatomical structures. The PRIS trial aims to assess the feasibility of treating localized prostate cancer with IRE compared to conventional radical surgery, focusing on local tumor control and minimal side effects. The ethical review board approved the study, and patient inclusion began in 2022. The study is currently closed to recruitment, and we are awaiting completion of the 12-month follow-up before conducting the primary analyses and reporting the results.

Principal Investigator for STHLM3AS and STHLM3AS-NorDCaP

Anna Lantz has evaluated diagnostics and follow-up protocols for men with low-risk prostate cancer. Her analysis of the STHLM0 database revealed that guidelines for monitoring low-risk prostate cancer on active surveillance were not being followed. This finding led to the initiation of the STHLM3-AS study, which aims to improve the monitoring of men with low-risk prostate cancer using the Stockholm3-test and MRI. The study, which included over 300 men, found that the new protocol increased the detection rate of significant prostate cancer while reducing the invasiveness of monitoring. To validate these findings, the STHLM3AS NorDCaP study was launched, including participants from Norway, Denmark, Finland, and Sweden, with the aim of recruiting 400 men on active surveillance. The objective is to validate the STHLM3AS results and enhance surveillance protocols for low-risk prostate cancer.

Principal Investigator for EMBARK Site 723 - MDV3100-13

The EMBARK trial assessed the effectiveness of enzalutamide in men with high-risk biochemically recurrent (BCR) prostate cancer. This three-arm trial demonstrated statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvements in metastasis-free survival (MFS) with enzalutamide plus leuprolide acetate (enza combo) and enzalutamide monotherapy compared to placebo plus leuprolide in patients with high-risk BCR prostate cancer.

LAPPRO-Trial Evaluating Functional and Oncological Outcomes After Prostate Cancer Surgery

Anna Lantz's overarching research aim is to improve patient care for men with prostate cancer. The LAPPRO trial is a multicenter, prospective controlled study of 4, 003 men who underwent radical prostatectomy between 2008 and 2011. This national collaborative study involves 14 hospitals in Sweden and evaluates functional outcomes such as incontinence, erectile dysfunction, and quality of life post-surgery. 

The LAPPRO study showed that robot-assisted radical prostatectomy was associated with improved perioperative outcomes, including less blood loss, shorter hospital stay, and lower rates of surgical complications compared with open surgery. However, long-term functional outcomes were largely similar, with only modest differences in urinary continence and erectile function between the two techniques.

2019 Teaching and Learning in Higher Education Distance (GHPD) Course
2018-19 Head of urological education, Karolinska University Hospital
2017- Teacher for medical students at the Department of Urology in Karolinska Hospital
2016-17 Teacher in Research School for clinicians in Epidemiology,  Karolinska Institutet
Around 200 teaching hours at Karolinska University Hospital and Karolinska Institutet.