{"id":1282,"date":"2024-03-27T13:44:22","date_gmt":"2024-03-27T12:44:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nuvr.cz\/2024\/03\/27\/vladimira-koudelakova-predstavuje-novou-vyzkumnou-skupinu\/"},"modified":"2024-04-16T14:05:40","modified_gmt":"2024-04-16T12:05:40","slug":"vladimira-koudelakova-presents-a-new-research-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nuvr.cz\/en\/2024\/03\/27\/vladimira-koudelakova-presents-a-new-research-group\/","title":{"rendered":"Vladim\u00edra Koudel\u00e1kov\u00e1 presents a new research group"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nuvr.cz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/KOUDELAKOVA_Vladimira_RSH02338.webp\" rel=\"lightbox\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-1265 size-medium alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.nuvr.cz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/KOUDELAKOVA_Vladimira_RSH02338-300x300.webp\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.nuvr.cz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/KOUDELAKOVA_Vladimira_RSH02338-300x300.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.nuvr.cz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/KOUDELAKOVA_Vladimira_RSH02338-1024x1024.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.nuvr.cz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/KOUDELAKOVA_Vladimira_RSH02338-150x150.webp 150w, https:\/\/www.nuvr.cz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/KOUDELAKOVA_Vladimira_RSH02338-768x768.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.nuvr.cz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/KOUDELAKOVA_Vladimira_RSH02338-1536x1536.webp 1536w, https:\/\/www.nuvr.cz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/KOUDELAKOVA_Vladimira_RSH02338-75x75.webp 75w, https:\/\/www.nuvr.cz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/KOUDELAKOVA_Vladimira_RSH02338-480x480.webp 480w, https:\/\/www.nuvr.cz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/KOUDELAKOVA_Vladimira_RSH02338.webp 1706w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width:767px) 300px, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><b>In 2023, a new research group focused on virology and molecular carcinogenesis was set up in the Node Olomouc of NICR in the Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine of Palack\u00fd University, Olomouc. Its head,<\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/imtm.cz\/users\/vladimira-koudelakova?language_content_entity=en\"> <b>Vladim\u00edra Koudel\u00e1kov\u00e1<\/b><\/a><b>, allowed us to take a peek into its multidisciplinary \u2018kitchen\u2019.<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>How do your research targets fit into the overall picture of cancer research at the NICR?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our research group focuses mainly on cancers linked to infection with human papillomavirus, HPV, which infects the cells of mucous membranes and the skin. In the course of life, most people in the population encounter this oncogenic virus. In most people who are infected, their immune system eliminates the virus, but in a small proportion of people HPV persists and can cause a cancer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In the Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine of the Palack\u00fd University, we have been investigating this subject for a number of years \u2026 I believe we started with it in about 2011 or 2012. Our long-term goals are especially the development and optimalisation of non-invasive or minimally invasive methods of collection of biological material that can be used, among other things, to test for presence of the abovementioned HPV.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h4><b>Do you have some past results you are especially proud of?<\/b><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The most prevalent oncological diseases associated with HPV infection is cervical cancer. Unfortunately, a large part of female population after the menopause stop coming to their gynaecologist for regular screening, so in this group the disease is often detected late, when it is already in in an advanced stage.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We have focused on trying to enable women who for whatever reason do not regularly see their gynaecologist to make a collection of biological material themselves and involve them in the screening of cervical cancer that way. One option is self-collection of cervicovaginal sample at home, with subsequent laboratory testing for HPV DNA. We have been collaborating on this for a very long time with a number of clinical institutions, including the Charles University, but also private gynaecological centres.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">We have also published several studies on the subject of self-sampling with subsequent testing for HPV presence and we are now preparing the results of further studies for publication. The self-sampling is very simple: female participants of the study have received self-sampling kits Evalyn Brush with detailed instructions and a link to instruction video by mail. The cervicovaginal samples we have received from those study participants, again by mail, we analysed using the PCR for presence of HPV infection in our laboratory. In all our studies, we have \u2013 as did many other studies \u2013 found a clear correlation with standard sample collection and therefore confirmed the possibility of using this method in routine screening.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Aside from that, we are also very pleased with a recent publication in the <\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">European Journal of Public Health<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> from January of this year (<\/span><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">see a separate box, editor\u2019s note<\/span><\/i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) which confirmed that self-sampling of a cervicovaginal smear at home is a method that was extremely well accepted by Czech women and that it can be an adequate alternative to a sample collection by a gynaecologist. It seems therefore that self-sampling could, before long, became part of routine practice. It makes us very happy to see that our work has such tangible impact.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h4><b>What will come next? What are you focusing on in virology and molecular carcinogenesis at the moment?<\/b><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Our group is active in several areas but at this point, we are focusing on oropharyngeal cancers, especially those associated with HPV infection. Unlike in the case of cervical cancer, there is no routine screening for their early detection. As a result, while we see a decrease in the number of new cases of cervical cancer in the population, the incidence of HPV-associated oropharyngeal cancers is increasing year on year and is a real problem. Therefore, we have developed a \u2018gurgling text\u2019 that would enable easy collection of biological material from the oral cavity. A sample collected in this way would be, among other things, suitable also for testing for presence of oral HPV infection. A person would gurgle with plain water, which means that the collection would be totally safe. After collection, the liquid is placed into a test tube containing a lyophilised stabilisation medium. A sample collected in this way is stable for at least 14 days. In a laboratory, the sample is then centrifuged to separate biological material and DNA is isolated and texted for PHV presence using PCR.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Several validation studies are taking place at this point but even the preliminary results show that the text seems to be very well suitable for detection of PHV in the oral area and could be thus used in the screening of oropharyngeal cancers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Another problem is that oropharyngeal tumours have a tendency to reappear and there are not many ways of detecting that this is taking place. We are therefore working on an optimalisation of text from blood plasma, i.e., so-called liquid biopsy, that would be based on testing for the presence of short fragments of PHV DNA using digital-droplet PCR. Thanks to this text, we can recognise the return of cancer before any of the currently available imaging methods.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h4><b>Where do you see the greatest contribution of NICR to your research group?<\/b><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nowadays, if you want to do research that delivers results, multidisciplinary collaboration is a must \u2013 and that is doubtless one of the advantages of existence of the NICR. In NICR, there meet various research groups that may apparently work on the same subject, that is, cancer research, but in fact cannot independently encompass all the necessary areas because each type of tumour represents a whole group of various more or less rare subtype. One cannot focus on just one of these: it is necessary to have a more comprehensive perspective that includes genetics, genomics, proteomics, molecular biology\u2026 That is why what the NICR offers is so important \u2013 the possibility of collaboration of various teams and groups that can not only share their knowledge but also put together for instance also large patient cohorts, which can help us to actually prove something. That is something a small, independently working team cannot do, just like it is impossible for a team of a handful of people to have knowledge of all the modern technologies, be it new-generation sequencing, mass spectrometry, or many other things. And finally, one also needs capable experts in bioinformatics and biostatistics, because correct data processing is a very important part of research and one that requires a lot of work and collaboration.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\n<h4><b>What professions in particular are represented in your group? And what units all of you \u2013 aside from \u2018just\u2019 research? In other words, does the \u2018chemistry\u2019 of your team work?<\/b><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Most people in our group are molecular biologists and geneticists, but we also have a statistician, a colleague who specialises in bioinformatics, and a physician. I would say we really fit well together \u2013 it is often the case that you chose people who are like you and with whom you can work well. So, although we specialise in different things we share a sense of humour and various interests. After all, I think that one cannot really do good research without good personal relations in the team.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Direct mailing of HPV self-sampling kits to women aged 50\u201365 non-participating in cervical screening in the Czech Republic<\/b><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ond\u0159ej Ngo, Renata Chloupkov\u00e1, David Cibula, Ji\u0159\u00ed Sl\u00e1ma, Lucie Mandelov\u00e1, Karel Hejduk, Mari\u00e1n Hajd\u00fach, Petr Minka, Vladim\u00edra Koudel\u00e1kov\u00e1, Hana Jaworek, Mark\u00e9ta Trnkov\u00e1, Peter Van\u011bk, Vladim\u00edr Dvo\u0159\u00e1k, Ladislav Du\u0161ek, Ond\u0159ej M\u00e1jek<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">European Journal of Public Health. 2024 Jan 15:ckad229. doi: 10.1093\/eurpub\/ckad229.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This study aimed to estimate the potential improvement in participation through directly mailed HPV self-sampling kits (HPVssk) compared with standard invitation letters in women aged 50-65 non-participating in screening.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The study recruited 1564 eligible women (no cervical cancer screening in the last 3 years or more, no previous treatment associated with cervical lesions or cervical cancer). Eight hundred women were mailed with an HPVssk (HPVssk group), and 764 women were sent a standard invitation letter (control group) inviting them to a routine screening (Pap test). The primary outcome was a comparison of the overall participation rate between study groups using a binominal regression model.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The participation rate in the HPVssk group was 13.4% [95% confidence interval (CI) 11.2-15.9%; 7.4% of women returned the HPVssk and 6.0% attended gynaecological examination] and 5.0% (95% CI 3.6-6.8%) in the control group. Using the binominal regression model, the difference between the groups was estimated as 7.6% (95% CI 5.0-10.2%; P &lt; 0.001). In the HPVssk group, 22% of women who returned HPVssk had a positive result and 70% of them underwent a follow-up examination.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Compared with traditional invitation letters, the direct mailing of the HPVssk achieved a significantly higher participation rate, along with a notable HPV positivity rate among HPVssk responders. This approach offers a potentially viable method for engaging women who have not yet attended a cervical screening programme.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In 2023, a new research group focused on virology and molecular carcinogenesis was set up in the Node Olomouc of NICR in the Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine of Palack\u00fd University, Olomouc. Its head, Vladim\u00edra Koudel\u00e1kov\u00e1, allowed us to take a peek into its multidisciplinary \u2018kitchen\u2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[77,78,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-2024-1-en","category-newsletter-inscider-en","category-scicommunity-en"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nuvr.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1282","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nuvr.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nuvr.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nuvr.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nuvr.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1282"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nuvr.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1282\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1402,"href":"https:\/\/www.nuvr.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1282\/revisions\/1402"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nuvr.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1282"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nuvr.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1282"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nuvr.cz\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1282"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}