Marcin Cieslik

About Marcin Cieslik

Differentiating indolent from aggressive prostate tumors is critical for early detection of aggressive tumors and prevention of overtreatment.

Pseudogenes are dysfunctional relatives of genes that have lost their ability to code important proteins due to an accumulation of mutations. These molecules are expressed in many cancers, contribute to disease biology, and may serve as diagnostic biomarkers.

Dr. Cieslik will use gene expression databases to correlate pseudogene expression in prostate cancer to the presence of potentially lethal disease.

If successful, a panel of pseudogenes will serve as a new and innovative biomarker for lethal prostate cancer.

What this means for patients: The current prostate cancer screening method (PSA testing) is nonspecific and leads to unnecessary prostatic biopsies and mass overtreatment. Dr. Cieslik aims to identify a new class of aberrantly expressed genes that can be used as biomarkers for improved diagnosis of prostate cancers that need urgent therapy.