CAG Personalised Oncological Surgery (POS)

CAG POS intends to reduce morbidity and increase survival for patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer. The CAG vision is to implement a generic research approach by combining clinical and basic research through Personalised Medicine (PM) treatment of patients undergoing oncological surgery.

Each year 5,000 patients are diagnosed with colorectal cancer in Denmark. The financial burden is substantial as major complications after colorectal cancer surgery increase costs up to three times. Only one in three patients with complications returns to work within three months compared to one in two patients without complications. The proportion of patients who never return to work is also doubled after postoperative complications. Preventing recurrence after surgery will result in a dramatic reduction in overall costs.

Current oncological and surgical treatment of patients with cancer is performed according to standardised pathways. Even with high adherence to these pathways and with state-of-the-art oncological, perioperative and surgical treatment, one in four patients suffers from complications within 30 days after colorectal cancer surgery and one in three patients will develop disease recurrence. With current treatment strategies, too many patients either do not get the right surgical or oncological therapy or experience complications without benefitting from the treatment.

There is compelling evidence that a tailored approach delivering the right treatment at the right time will have dramatic effects on the prevention of complications and recurrence after surgery.

The CAG will provide a state-of-the-art clinical research platform for PM in surgery through a collaboration between basic scientists specialised in big data, experts in translational techniques in the laboratory and a multidisciplinary team of experts from each phase of the entire patient care pathway.