University Hospital of Northern Sweden
Region Västerbotten
Norrlands universitetssjukhus
901 85 UMEÅ
Tel: +46 90-785 00 00 (switch board)
Research project U‑CAN has, since 2010, built an infrastructure for collecting clinical data and establishing a biobank including blood and tumor samples for cancer research. The biobank is available to researchers and companies developing diagnostics and treatments for cancer.
Umeå University collaborates with Uppsala University, Stockholm University, and the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH). Together, the universities form a Strategic Research Area (SFO).
Umeå University hosts several internationally leading research groups in the cancer field. Clinical teams include oncologists, surgeons, hematologists, radiologists, pathologists, and researchers working with the cancer diagnoses covered by U‑CAN. Their task is to collect high‑quality samples and data for research.
U‑CAN systematically collects clinical materials such as blood samples at and after diagnosis, as well as tissue, imaging and functional data, laboratory information, and patient data in biobanks and databases for several cancer types, including prostate cancer, brain tumors, colorectal cancer, hematological malignancies, lymphomas, and lung cancer.
Samples are collected from individuals with suspected or confirmed tumor disease, including those later found not to have cancer. All materials contribute to ongoing and future research.
Participants are asked to consent to U‑CAN storing and using:
A link to the PDF containing participant information and the consent form can be found here (in Swedish). You will be asked to consent to U‑CAN being allowed to:
The purpose of this collection is to improve future diagnostics, treatment, and survival in cancer diseases.
U‑CAN enables collaboration between researchers and healthcare providers across Sweden and supports national and international research groups.
A pre‑project form is available for specifying desired sample types, sample quantities, and clinical parameters, enabling U‑CAN to assess whether a proposed project is feasible within the existing cohort.
Pre‑project form
A link to the pre‑project form can be found here. Fill in the form to find out whether the requested material exists. The form is then to be sent to u-can@igp.uu.se
Region Västerbotten
Norrlands universitetssjukhus
901 85 UMEÅ
Tel: +46 90-785 00 00 (switch board)
Diagnostic groups within U-CAN Umeå
For information about the project or questions regarding sample access from Umeå, please contact the project coordinator, Madelene Ericsson, using the form below or by sending an e-mail to: Projektkoordinator.UCAN@umu.se.
Approval from the Swedish Ethical Review Authority is required for any release of U‑CAN material. The U‑CAN administration can assist with preparing or pre‑reviewing the ethics application.
Samples can only be released once a formal application has been submitted according to the instructions below and approved by both the relevant U‑CAN diagnostic group and the biobank.
Guidelines and Application Documents
The U‑CAN Umeå project coordinator responds to questions submitted through the form below. You may also send an e-mail.
Published articles based on material or funding from U‑CAN with researchers affiliated Umeå University or Region Västerbotten:
2026
Escriva Conde M, et al. Spatial transcriptomics differences of histopathological growth patterns in colorectal cancer liver metastases. Br J Cancer
Flodbring Larsson P, et al. Targeting oncogenic TβRI signaling inhibits androgen-independent prostate cancer growth and metastasis. Signal Transduct Target Ther.
Rosenbaum A, et al. Rare germline variants contribute to glioma predisposition: Whole-genome analysis of a regional cohort of glioma patients. Neurooncol Adv
Wu WY, et al. Intratumoral serotonin and antidepressants in glioblastoma patients: narrowing the uncertainties. J Neurooncol
2025
Axelsson J, et al. Characterizing long- and short-survival glioblastoma patients with FLT-PET/MRI and metabolomics. Neurooncol Adv.
Edin S, et al. Differential distribution of immune checkpoints across molecular subtypes of colorectal cancer. Oncoimmunity.
Lundquist K, et al. Metabolomic Insights into Prostate Cancer Treatment and Relapse. Cancers (Basel).
Rutegård MK, et al. Evaluation of MRI characterisation of histopathologically matched lymph nodes and other mesorectal nodal structures in rectal cancer. Eur Radiol.
Wu Y-Y W, et al. Addressing the serotonin hypothesis of depression through analyses of genetics, methylation and metabolite variations in glioma patients. Sci Rep.
2024
Andersson A, et al. Spatial Transcriptome Mapping of the Desmoplastic Growth Pattern of Colorectal Liver Metastases by In Situ Sequencing Reveals a Biologically Relevant Zonation of the Desmoplastic Rim. Clin Cancer Res
Forsgren E, et al. Evaluation of coverage, generalisability and validity of the U-CAN lymphoma biobank in Sweden: A comparison with nationwide registers. Br J Haematol.
Hjortborg M, et al. Systemic inflammatory response in colorectal cancer is associated with tumour mismatch repair and impaired survival. Sci Rep.
Löding S, et al. Blood based metabolic markers of glioma from pre-diagnosis to surgery. Sci Rep.
Löwenmark Thyra, et al. Parvimonas micra forms a distinct bacterial network with oral pathobionts in colorectal cancer patients. J Transl Med.
Nilsson RF, et al. Validation of the EORTC QLQ-C30 and QLQ-BN20, including WHO performance status interrater reliability, for evaluation of patients with intracranial meningiomas. Neurooncol Pract.
Nunes L, et al. Prognostic genome and transcriptome signatures in colorectal cancers. Nature.
Sanchez-Castillo A, et al. Sertraline/chloroquine combination therapy to target hypoxic and immunosuppressive serine/glycine synthesis-dependent glioblastomas. Oncogenesis.
2022
Björkblom B, et al. Distinct metabolic hallmarks of WHO classified adult glioma subtypes. Neuro Oncol.
Holmgren K, et al. Preoperative biomarkers related to inflammation identify high-risk anastomoses in surgery for rectal cancer: an explorative study on patients with colorectal cancer. BJS Open.
2021
Li X, et al. A modified protein marker panel for identification of four consensus molecular subtypes in colorectal cancer using immunohistochemistry. Pathol Res Pract.
Stålnacke M, et al. Neuropsychological Function and Quality of Life after Resection of Suspected Lower-Grade Glioma in the Face Primary Motor Area. J Clin Med.
Åberg A-M, et al. High Monocyte Count and Expression of S100A9 and S100A12 in Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells Are Associated with Poor Outcome in Patients with Metastatic Prostate Cancer. Cancers (Basel).
2020
Abdulla M, et al. Cell-of-origin determined by both gene expression profiling and immunohistochemistry is the strongest predictor of survival in patients with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. Am J Hematol.
Björkblom B, et al. Metabolic response patterns in brain microdialysis fluids and serum during interstitial cisplatin treatment of high-grade glioma. Br J Cancer.
Li X, et al. Ex vivo organoid cultures reveal the importance of the tumor microenvironment for maintenance of colorectal cancer stem cells. Cancers (Basel).
Löwenmark T, et al. Parvimonas micra as a putative non-invasive biomarker for colorectal cancer. Sci Rep.
Menter T, et al. Prognostic implications of the microenvironment for follicular lymphoma under immunomodulation therapy. Br J Haematol.
Quist-Paulsen P, et al. T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia in patients 1–45 years treated with the pediatric NOPHO ALL2008 protocol. Leukemia.
Stålnacke M, et al. Phenomenology of glioma resection in the dorsal medial frontal cortex. Acta Neurol Scand.
Voss G, et al. Regulation of Cell-Cell Adhesion in Prostate Cancer Cells by microRNA-96 through Upregulation of E-Cadherin and EpCAM. Carcinogenesis.
Ylitalo EB, et al. Marked response to cabazitaxel in prostate cancer xenografts expressing androgen receptor variant 7 and reversion of acquired resistance by anti-androgens. Prostate.
2019
Adamo H, et al. Prostate cancer induces C/EBPβ expression in surrounding epithelial cells which relates to tumor aggressiveness and patient outcome. Prostate.
Andersson U, et al. The association between longer relative leukocyte telomere length and risk of glioma is independent of the potentially confounding factors allergy, BMI, and smoking. Cancer Causes Control.
Aripaka K,et al. TRAF6 function as a novel co-regulator of Wnt3a target genes in prostate cancer. EBioMedicine.
Eriksson M, et al. Improved treatment of glioblastoma - changes in survival over two decades at a single regional Centre. Acta Oncol.
Evelönn EA, et al. DNA methylation associates with survival in non-metastatic clear cell renal cell carcinoma. BMC Cancer.
Haider Z, et al. An integrated transcriptome analysis in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia links DNA methylation subgroups to dysregulated TAL1 and ANTP homeobox gene expression. Cancer Med.
Hammarsten P, et al. Immunoreactivity for prostate specific antigen and Ki67 differentiates subgroups of prostate cancer related to outcome. Mod Pathol.
Hirvonen EAM, et al. Characterization of an X-chromosome-linked telomere biology disorder in females with DKC1 mutation. Leukemia.
Kolan SS, et al. Growth-inhibition of cell lines derived from B cell lymphomas through antagonism of serotonin receptor signaling. Sci Rep.
Rutegård MK, et al. PET/MRI and PET/CT hybrid imaging of rectal cancer – description and initial observations from the RECTOPET. Cancer Imaging.
Sjöberg RL, et al. Role of monoamine-oxidase-A-gene variation in the development of glioblastoma in males: a case control study. J Neurooncol.
Thysell E, et al. Gene expression profiles define molecular subtypes of prostate cancer bone metastases with different outcomes and morphology traceable back to the primary tumor. Mol Oncol.
Wu WY, et al. The Genetic Architecture of Gliomagenesis-Genetic Risk Variants Linked to Specific Molecular Subtypes. Cancers (Basel).
2018
Borssén M, et al. DNA methylation holds prognostic information in relapsed precursor B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Clin Epigenetics.
Glimelius B, et al. U-CAN: a prospective longitudinal collection of biomaterials and clinical information from adult cancer patients in Sweden. Acta Oncol.
Halin Bergström S, et al. Prostate tumors downregulate microseminoprotein-beta (MSMB) in the surrounding benign prostate epithelium and this response is associated with tumor aggressiveness. Prostate.
Iglesias-Gato D, et al. The Proteome of Prostate Cancer Bone Metastasis Reveals Heterogeneity with Prognostic Implications. Clin Cancer Res.
Norberg A, et al. Novel variants in Nordic patients referred for genetic testing of telomere-related disorders. Eur J Hum Genet.
Tjon-Kon-Fat LA., et al. Platelets harbor prostate cancer biomarkers and the ability to predict therapeutic response to abiraterone in castration resistant patients. Prostate.
Trotta L, et al. Diagnostics of rare disorders: whole-exome sequencing deciphering locus heterogeneity in telomere biology disorders. Orphanet J Rare Dis.
Vaniotis G, et al. Collagen IV-conveyed signals regulate cytokine production and promote liver metastasis. Oncogene.
Wikberg ML, et al. Plasma miRNA can detect colorectal cancer, but how early? Cancer Med.
2017
Degerman S, et al. Maintained memory in aging is associated with young epigenetic age. Neurobiol Aging.
Djusberg E, et al. High levels of the AR-V7 Splice Variant and Co-Amplification of the Golgi Protein Coding YIPF6 in AR Amplified Prostate Cancer Bone Metastases. Prostate.
Ling A, et al. TAP1 down-regulation elicits immune escape and poor prognosis in colorectal cancer. Oncoimmunology.
Melin BS. Genome-wide association study of glioma subtypes identifies specific differences in genetic susceptibility to glioblastoma and non-glioblastoma tumors. Nat Genet.
Thysell E, et al. A Systems Approach to Prostate Cancer Classification-Letter. Cancer Res.
Ylitalo EB, et al. Subgroups of Castration-resistant Prostate Cancer Bone Metastases Defined Through an Inverse Relationship Between Androgen Receptor Activity and Immune Response. Eur Urol.
Åstrand AP, et al. Prostate Cancer Detection with a Tactile Resonance Sensor-Measurement Considerations and Clinical Setup. Sensors (Basel).
2016
Borssén M, et al. DNA Methylation Adds Prognostic Value to Minimal Residual Disease Status in Pediatric T-Cell Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. Pediatr Blood Cancer.
Dahlin AM, et al. Relation between Established Glioma Risk Variants and DNA Methylation in the Tumor. PLoS One.
Frentzas S, et al. Vessel co-option mediates resistance to anti-angiogenic therapy in liver metastases. Nat Med.
Ghasimi S et al. Genetic risk variants in the CDKN2A/B, RTEL1 and EGFR genes are associated with somatic biomarkers in glioma. J Neurooncol.
Halin Bergström S, et al. Extratumoral Heme Oxygenase-1 (HO-1) Expressing Macrophages Likely Promote Primary and Metastatic Prostate Tumor Growth. PLoS One.
Mansouri L, et al. Frequent NFKBIE deletions are associated with poor outcome in primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma. Blood.
2015
Nyberg M, et al. Dual-modality probe intended for prostate cancer detection combining Raman spectroscopy and tactile resonance technology – discrimination of normal human prostate tissues ex vivo. J Med Eng Technol.
Nyström H, et al. Improved tumor marker sensitivity in detecting colorectal liver metastases by combined type IV collagen and CEA measurement. Tumour Biol.
2013
Jalkanen V, et al. Indentation loading response of a resonance sensor – discriminating prostate cancer and normal tissue. J Med Eng Technol.
2012
Nyström H, et al. Liver-metastatic Potential of Colorectal Cancer Is related to the Stromal Composition of the Tumour. Anticancer Res.
2011
Nyström H, et al. Type IV collagen as a tumour marker for colorectal liver metastases. Eur J Surg Oncol.
