Disputas – Master of Science (biomedicine) Kjersti Sellæg

Avhandlingen er tilgjengelig her! / The doctoral thesis is available here!


Auditoriet er åpent for publikum. Disputasen strømmes og et opptak vil være tilgjengelig i ett døgn.
The auditorium is open to the public. The defense will still be streamed, and a recording of the disputation will be available for 24 hours.


Prøveforelesning over oppgitt emne starter kl. 09.15 / The trial lecture starts at 09.15
Tittel/Title: «Biomarkers in oral cancer: current status and future directions»
Prøveforelesningen strømmes her / The trial lecture will be streamed here.

Disputasen starter kl. 11.15 / The defense starts at 11.15
Disputasen strømmes her / The defense will be streamed here


Populærvitenskapelig sammendrag av avhandlingen/ Summary of the thesis

Oral cancer is a growing health concern, especially among younger people. The immune system plays an important role in fighting cancer by sending immune cells into the cancer tissue to attack the cancer cells. When immune cells are abundant in the cancer tissue, patients are less likely to succumb to the disease, and more likely to respond to treatments like immunotherapy. High endothelial venules (HEVs) are a unique type of blood vessels found in cancer tissues that help the immune cells enter the tissue. Patients who have few or no HEVs within their cancer, tend to have a shorter life expectancy.
This thesis aims to understand how HEVs develop in oral cancer and how they interact with their surroundings. We also study the prognostic value of HEVs and immunosuppressive cell types in tongue cancer patients. A combination of high numbers of HEVs and low numbers of immunosuppressive cells identified patients with superior survival. HEVs within cancer tissues featured different characteristics and HEV development was promoted by the cancer immune response. Gaining insights into how these vessels function could lead to new treatments that improve the chances of survival for cancer patients.

Veiledere/ Supervisors:
Hovedveileder/Main supervisor:
Førsteamanuensis Synnøve Magnussen, Institutt for medisinsk biologi, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitet.

Biveiledere/supervisors:
Postdok Anna Maria Wirsing, Institutt for medisinsk biologi, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitet.
Førsteamanuensis Gerd Berge, Institutt for samfunnsmedisin, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitet.

Bedømmelseskomité/Defensecomitee:
Professor Anna Dimberg, Uppsala Universitet – 1. opponent.
Professor Dipak Sapkota, UiO – 2. opponent.
Førsteamanuensis Vivian Berg, Institutt for medisinsk biologi, UiT Norges arktiske universitet – leder av komité.

Disputasleder/ Leader of defense:
Førsteamanuensis Hege Lynum Pedersen, Institutt for medisinsk biologi, Det helsevitenskapelige fakultet, UiT Norges arktiske universitet.