Johan Hartman's Group

Precision pathology and tumor heterogeneity

The members of Johan Hartman's group is lined up in front of a house.

Our research

Breast cancer remains to be the most common malignancy for women in Sweden. Great improvements in screening and adjuvant therapy have led to a current 5-year survival rate of 90%. The individual treatment strategy is based on routine biomarkers on immunohistochemical level; estrogen receptor (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), Her2 and Ki67. ER expression confers strong indications for response to endocrine therapy, whereas patients with Her2-overexpressing tumors can be effectively treated with anti-Her2 therapy. However, such management of breast cancer patients is insufficient to distinguish resistant tumors. We use a variety of methods to identify patterns of drug resistance. Our projects are all of translational character and goes from in vitro experimental models to studies on patient material ex vivo. We are also very interested in the role of tumor-metastatic heterogeneity in relation to drug response.

Publications

Selected publications

Staff and contact

Group leader

All members of the group