Martin Eklund

Martin Eklund

Professor
E-postadress: martin.eklund@ki.se
Telefon: +46852482501
Mobiltelefon: +46737121611
Besöksadress: Nobels väg 12a, 17165 Solna
Postadress: C8 Medicinsk epidemiologi och biostatistik, C8 MEB Eklund, 171 77 Stockholm
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Om mig

  • Jag är professor i epidemiologi vid Institutionen för medicinsk epidemiologi och biostatistik (MEB) vid Karolinska Institutet (KI). Jag fick min grundutbildning vid Uppsala universitet, bortsett från tre terminer vid University of Otago i Dunedin, Nya Zeeland. Jag genomförde också min doktorsutbildning vid Uppsala universitet, främst med inriktning på beräkningsintensiva metoder för statistiskt modellval och validering.

    Efter att jag avslutat min doktorsexamen, var jag postdoktor vid sektionen för Global Safety Assessment på AstraZeneca och vid Institutionen för medicinsk epidemiologi och biostatistik, KI. Under 2013 och 2014 var jag baserad i San Francisco och arbetade vid Institutionen för kirurgi, University of California i San Francisco (UCSF). Sedan 2015 är jag baserad på MEB.

    Min forskning syftar till att förbättra prevention, diagnostik och behandling av bröst- och prostatacancer genom att utveckla individanpassade metoder baserade på prediktionsmodeller och artificiell intelligens och translatera dessa till kliniskt bruk via kliniska prövningar. Läs gärna mer om min forskning på den engelska sidan.

Utvalda publikationer

Artiklar

Alla övriga publikationer

Forskningsbidrag

  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2023 - 31 December 2025
    Our general aim is to use modelling to reduce the burden due to prostate and cervical cancer through cost-effective screening. For prostate cancer, new tests, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and artificial intelligence (AI) assisted pathology are expected to reduce harms while maintaining the mortality benefits from early detection. For cervical cancer, human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccinations are expected to substantially reduce HPV incidence and eventually lead to the eradication of cervical cancer. With changes to HPV transmission, cervical cancer screening may require extended genotyping, self-sampling and renewed guidelines to be cost-effective.We will evaluate the cost-effectiveness of: (i) organised prostate cancer testing (OPT) in Sweden, including MRI and the Stockholm3 test
    (ii) prostate cancer testing using a genetic risk score
    (iii) prostate cancer diagnostics using AI-assisted pathology
    and (iv) primary HPV testing with extended genotyping in vaccinated cohorts with clinic-based testing or self-sampling. These results will inform policy for (a) the development and planning of a national OPT program, (b) the use of AI-assisted histopathology, and (c) the development of national cervical cancer screening guidelines for vaccinated cohorts.
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2023 - 31 December 2025
    Prostate cancer is a leading cause of cancer-related death in males. Prostate cancer screening every 2-4 year has been shown to decrease prostate-cancer mortality and opportunistic screening is wide-spread. In a recent high-impact project, we showed that screening-related over-diagnosis at an initial screen can be mitigated and screening outcomes improved by using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), novel blood-based risk prediction and targeted biopsies (STHLM3MRI: Eklund et al NEJM 2021
    Nordström et al Lancet Onc 2021). There are ongoing initiatives for implementing screening, but there are important knowledge gaps on how to design repeat screening, screening interventions and the real-world performance of screening outside trials.The purpose of this project is to provide unique evidence on re-screen methods by completing three work packages (WP) within a three year timeframe. This includes a prospective paired design study on repeat prostate cancer screening (WP1), studies on optimization of screening interventions (WP2) using retrospective, screen-by-invitation data from the STHLM3MRI project and building a collaborative platform for assessment of real-world outcomes inside and outside a screening program initiative (WP3).Our studies provide vital data on optimal screening intervals and interventions (MRI, biopsy decision aids and biopsy strategies) as well as knowledge on acceptance and performance of prostate cancer screening.
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2022 - 31 December 2025
    The lack of treatment-predictive biomarkers is an unmet clinical need in metastatic prostate cancer leading to inferior clinical outcomes, overtreatment and accelerating costs. The ProBio study (NCT03903835) is an ongoing randomized trial that builds on a novel adaptive study design and prospectively evaluates treatment predictive biomarker signatures in a large network of over 35 study centers in Europe. By using ProBio we will be able to rapidly evaluate both new and old drugs in subsets of patients with similar genomic biomarker. If successful, patients with prostate cancer will get individualized treatment based on treatment-predictive genomic biomarker signatures in the near future.To test this hypothesis, we will use a multiphase randomized study using an outcome-adaptive multi-arm biomarker-driven study design. We have the following main aims: To investigate if treatment decisions based on a biomarker signature identified by sequencing circulating tumor DNA improves progression free survival (primary endpoint)To ultimately show that the ProBio concept is a model for collaboration between academia and industry in the evaluation of new drugs in prostate cancer
  • Swedish Cancer Society
    1 January 2022
    Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer and the leading cause of cancer death among men in Sweden. In 2018, over 10,000 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer and 2,350 died from the disease. A bottleneck in the effort to reduce prostate cancer mortality is the difficulty in making objective and reproducible pathological assessments of tissue samples (biopsies) from the prostate. Histopathological evaluation of prostate biopsies is used to diagnose the disease and grade its severity, and is of crucial importance for the clinical management and treatment of men diagnosed with prostate cancer. Despite the importance of histopathological assessment of prostate biopsies, there are major challenges. The so-called Gleason grade is crucial for treatment decisions for men diagnosed with prostate cancer. As the Gleason grade often differs between different pathologists' assessments, treatment decisions can be made on incorrect information about the severity of the disease. This can lead to the man not receiving sufficiently aggressive treatment or receiving unnecessarily aggressive treatment. My research group has developed a system based on artificial intelligence (AI) to assist the pathologists, with the overall goal of solving these challenges. In the proposed research, we will continue the development of the AI system, link it to genomic information from the tissue samples, and conduct rigorous clinical validation of the system through a network of international collaborators and through a randomized clinical trial. The overall aim of the research is to make prostate cancer diagnosis more accurate, in order to provide better information to make correct treatment decisions for men diagnosed with prostate cancer and thus achieve better treatment results and fewer side effects of the treatment.
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2021 - 31 December 2026
    Histopathological evaluation of prostate biopsies is critical to the clinical management of men suspected of having prostate cancer. Despite this importance, the histopathological diagnosis of prostate cancer is associated with a number of challenges: The large number of prostate biopsies being performed worldwide together with the shortage of well-trained uro-pathologists and the high inter- pathologist variability leads to suboptimal prostate cancer diagnostics and prognostication, with risks for under- and overtreatment.My research group has over the last years developed an artificial intelligence (AI) system to assist the pathologists in the evaluation of prostate biopsies, with the overarching aim of solving these problems. In a recent article in the Lancet Oncology, we demonstrate that the system performs on par with internationally leading uro-pathologist for grading prostate needle biopsies.In this research proposal, we aim to:Perform retrospective international multisite validation of the AI system to assess the AI’s performance across different labs, technical platforms (scanners), and disease subtypesDevelop methods to go beyond today’s grading to improve prognosticationLink the AI system with genomic profiling of tumor tissue to improve treatment selectionPerform prospective validation of the AI system in a randomized diagnostic histopathology trial
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2021 - 31 December 2024
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2020 - 31 December 2023
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2019 - 31 December 2022
  • Improved active monitoring of patients with diagnosed low-risk prostate cancer
    Swedish Cancer Society
    1 January 2018
    More than 2,500 men die each year from prostate cancer in Sweden. Although PSA sampling every two years between ages 50 and 70 has been shown to nearly halve mortality, PSA has significant diagnostic limitations leading to many unnecessary biopsies, over-diagnosis, and over-treatment, which is why prostate cancer screening is not recommended by healthcare. The need for improved methods for early detection of prostate cancer is thus great. In recent years, we have conducted the SHLM3 studies, where we show that we can significantly improve prostate cancer diagnosis using the STHLM3 test and the use of magnetic camera studies. Active monitoring of men with diagnosed low-risk prostate cancer is a method for reducing over-treatment, which involves following up the patient with repeated PSA tests and biopsies to be able to subsequently distinguish those who need to be treated. One disadvantage of active monitoring is the many biopsies that men are exposed to, which can lead to serious infections and impaired opportunities for effective surgery if active treatment is needed. We want to develop methods for monitoring low-risk patients who are safe and less invasive using the STHLM3 test and magnetic camera surveys. The research aims to improve the methods for active monitoring in order to reduce the negative consequences of early diagnostics for prostate cancer. Considering that over-diagnosis and over-treatment were the main reason why prostate cancer screening was not recommended, improved methods of managing mites that are diagnosed with low-risk prostate cancers are required so that we can move towards effective organized screening for prostate cancer to reduce morbidity and mortality in Sweden's most deadly cancer.
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2018 - 31 December 2020
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 December 2017 - 31 December 2020
  • Risk-based screening for prostate cancer
    Swedish Cancer Society
    1 January 2017
    More than 2,500 men die each year from prostate cancer in Sweden. Although PSA sampling every two years between ages 50 and 70 has been shown to nearly halve mortality, PSA has significant diagnostic limitations leading to many unnecessary biopsies, over-diagnosis, and over-treatment, which is why prostate cancer screening is not recommended by healthcare. The need for improved methods for early detection of prostate cancer is thus great. In recent years, we have conducted STHLM3, a study of 59,000 participants in Stockholm, where we show that we can significantly improve prostate cancer diagnosis using the risk-based STHLM test. STHLM3 is a step towards an organized, individualized and risk-based test program for prostate cancer. However, several questions remain to be answered in order to optimally use the results from STHLM3: (i) Between which ages and how often should men be tested? (ii) How should the results of STHLM3 be used after an initial negative biopsy? (iii) How should the results be used together with magnetic resonance camera surveys to further improve the test? The research in this application focuses on answering the first of these questions. Prostate cancer screening is emotionally charged and highly stained by over-diagnosis and over-treatment. The proposed research will reduce the negative consequences of prostate cancer screening without compromising the positive effects of reduced mortality. We now have the opportunity to move away from the current opportunistic screening situation in Sweden and instead construct a strategy that maximizes the benefit of the screening and utilizes the great research-related advances in risk assessment in the right way to reduce the mortality in prostate cancer.
  • Risk-based screening for prostate cancer
    Swedish Cancer Society
    1 January 2016
    More than 2,500 men die each year from prostate cancer in Sweden. Although PSA sampling every two years between ages 50 and 70 has been shown to nearly halve mortality, PSA has significant diagnostic limitations leading to many unnecessary biopsies, over-diagnosis, and over-treatment, which is why prostate cancer screening is not recommended by healthcare. The need for improved methods for early detection of prostate cancer is thus great. In recent years, we have conducted STHLM3, a study of 59,000 participants in Stockholm, where we show that we can significantly improve prostate cancer diagnosis using the risk-based STHLM test. STHLM3 is a step towards an organized, individualized and risk-based test program for prostate cancer. However, several questions remain to be answered in order to optimally use the results from STHLM3: (i) Between which ages and how often should men be tested? (ii) How should the results of STHLM3 be used after an initial negative biopsy? (iii) How should the results be used together with magnetic resonance camera surveys to further improve the test? The research in this application focuses on answering the first of these questions. Prostate cancer screening is emotionally charged and highly stained by over-diagnosis and over-treatment. The proposed research will reduce the negative consequences of prostate cancer screening without compromising the positive effects of reduced mortality. We now have the opportunity to move away from the current opportunistic screening situation in Sweden and instead construct a strategy that maximizes the benefit of the screening and utilizes the great research-related advances in risk assessment in the right way to reduce the mortality in prostate cancer.
  • Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare
    1 January 2016 - 31 December 2018
  • Swedish Research Council
    1 January 2016 - 31 December 2019
  • Risk-based screening for prostate cancer
    Swedish Cancer Society
    1 January 2015
    More than 2,500 men die each year from prostate cancer in Sweden. Although PSA sampling every two years between ages 50 and 70 has been shown to nearly halve mortality, PSA has significant diagnostic limitations leading to many unnecessary biopsies, over-diagnosis, and over-treatment, which is why prostate cancer screening is not recommended by healthcare. The need for improved methods for early detection of prostate cancer is thus great. In recent years, we have conducted STHLM3, a study of 59,000 participants in Stockholm, where we show that we can significantly improve prostate cancer diagnosis using the risk-based STHLM test. STHLM3 is a step towards an organized, individualized and risk-based test program for prostate cancer. However, several questions remain to be answered in order to optimally use the results from STHLM3: (i) Between which ages and how often should men be tested? (ii) How should the results of STHLM3 be used after an initial negative biopsy? (iii) How should the results be used together with magnetic resonance camera surveys to further improve the test? The research in this application focuses on answering the first of these questions. Prostate cancer screening is emotionally charged and highly stained by over-diagnosis and over-treatment. The proposed research will reduce the negative consequences of prostate cancer screening without compromising the positive effects of reduced mortality. We now have the opportunity to move away from the current opportunistic screening situation in Sweden and instead construct a strategy that maximizes the benefit of the screening and utilizes the great research-related advances in risk assessment in the right way to reduce the mortality in prostate cancer.
  • Swedish Research Council for Health Working Life and Welfare
    1 November 2012 - 31 October 2015

Anställningar

  • Professor, Medicinsk epidemiologi och biostatistik, Karolinska Institutet, 2022-

Examina och utbildning

  • Docent, Biostatistik, Karolinska Institutet, 2013
  • PhD Biostatistics, Uppsala University, 2010
  • MSc Mathematics, Uppsala University, 2006
  • MSc Molecular Biotechnology (civilingenjör), Uppsala University, 2005
  • BSc Macroeconomics, Uppsala University, 2004

Nyheter från KI

Kalenderhändelser från KI