The research group contributes with clinical research to improve the treatment outcomes for patients with colorectal cancer and anal cancer.

Members of the research group are active in various studies of experimental drug treatment, radiotherapy, multidisciplinary treatment, translational research, and projects within epidemiology, late effects and quality of life. There is extensive multidisciplinary, national, Nordic and international collaboration on several projects.

Clinical Studies

  • Novel anticancer drug therapies
  • Radiation therapy
  • Multimodal cancer treatment

The research group participates in clinical studies investigating novel anticancer drug therapies. The group has contributed to several studies that have influenced clinical practice, including investigations of targeted therapies, immune checkpoint inhibitors, and the optimal integration of multimodal treatment strategies.

Epidemiological Research

  • Colorectal cancer: incidence, survival, and oligometastatic disease (PhD project)
  • Quality of life following treatment for colorectal cancer
  • Survival outcomes in colorectal cancer

The research group collaborates closely with researchers at the Cancer Registry of Norway on several epidemiological research projects.

Translational Research

  • BIOMAN
  • Circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA)

The research group has a long-standing collaboration with the Department of Molecular Oncology at the Institute for Cancer Research, as well as with Nordic research consortia focusing on circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA).

Doctoral Dissertations Since 2020

  • Kathinka Schmidt Slørdahl. Treatment Outcomes after Chemoradiotherapy for Anal Cancer and Patient-Reported Outcomes after Treatment for Anorectal Cancer in Norway. University of Oslo, 18 December 2025.
  • Julian Hamfjord. Colorectal Cancer: Survival Trends and the Prognostic Role of Circulating Cell-Free DNA. University of Oslo, 16 February 2024.
  • Tor Magnus Smedman. Liver Transplantation for Non-Resectable Liver Metastases: Health-Related Quality of Life, Treatment after Recurrence, and Survival Outcomes. University of Oslo, 19 June 2023.
  • Elin Aamdal. Treating Metastatic Melanoma with Ipilimumab: Clinical Activity, Health-Related Quality of Life, and Combination with a Telomerase Peptide Vaccine. University of Oslo, 22 June 2022.
  • Jørgen Smeby. Molecular Subtype-Dependent Impact of Driver Mutations in Colorectal Cancer. University of Oslo, 20 April 2020.
  • Kari Röhrl. Symptoms and Quality of Life during Chemotherapy in Patients with Colorectal Cancer. University of Oslo, 13 March 2020.

Publications

Ystgaard MF, Myklebust TÅ, Smeby J, Larsen IK, Guren TK, Kure EH, Tveit KM, Glimelius B, Guren MG, Hamfjord J. Early-onset colorectal cancer incidence in Norway: a national registry based study 1993–2022 by subsite and morphology. ESMO Gastrointestinal Oncology 2025; 7: 100065.

Hofheinz R-D, Fokas E, Benhaim L, Price TJ, Arnold D, Beets-Tan R, Guren MG, Hospers GAP, Lonardi S, Nagtegaal I, Perez R, Cervantes A & Martinelli E, on behalf of the ESMO Guidelines Committee. Localised rectal cancer: ESMO Clinical Practice Guideline for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up. Annals of Oncology 2025; 36 (9): 1007-24.

Hamfjord J, Myklebust TÅ, Larsen IK, Kure EH, Glimelius B, Guren TK, Tveit KM, Guren MG. Survival trends of right- and left-sided colon cancer across four decades: a Norwegian population-based study. Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention 2022; 31 (2): 342-51.

Rao S, Guren MG, Khan K, Brown G, Renehan AG, Steigen SE, Deutsch E, Martinelli E, Arnold D, on behalf of the the ESMO Guidelines Committee. Anal cancer: ESMO Clinical Practice Guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and follow-up. Annals of Oncology 2021; 32 (9): 1087-1100.

Tabernero J, Grothey A, Van Cutsem E, Yaeger R, Wasan H, Yoshino T, Desai J, Ciardiello F, Loupakis F, Hong YS, Steeghs N, Guren TK, Arkenau HT, Garcia-Alfonso P, Elez E, Gollerkeri A, Maharry K, Christy-Bittel J, Kopetz S. Encorafenib Plus Cetuximab as a New Standard of Care for Previously Treated BRAF V600E-Mutant Metastatic Colorectal Cancer: Updated Survival Results and Subgroup Analyses from the BEACON Study. Journal of Clinical Oncology 2021; 39 (4): 273-84.

Rao S, Sclafani F, Eng C, Adams RA, Guren MG, Sebag-Montefiore D, Benson A, Bryant A, Peckitt C, Segelov E, Roy A, Seymour MT, Welch J, Saunders MP, Muirhead R, O’Dwyer P, Bridgewater J, Bhide S, Glynne-Jones R, Arnold D, Cunningham D. International Rare Cancers Initiative Multicenter Randomized Phase II Trial of Cisplatin and Paclitaxel in Advanced Anal Cancer: InterAAct. Journal of Clinical Oncology 2020; 38 (22): 2510-18.

Bruun J, Kryeziu K, Eide PW, Moosavi SH, Eilertsen, I, Langerud J, Røsok B, Totland MZ, Brunsell TH, Pellinen T, Saarela J, Bergsland CH, Palmer HG, Brudvik KW, Guren T, Dienstmann R, Guren MG, Nesbakken A, Bjørnbeth BA, Sveen A, Lothe RA. Patient-Derived Organoids from Multiple Colorectal Cancer Liver Metastases Reveal Moderate Intra-patient Pharmacotranscriptomic Heterogeneity. Clinical Cancer Research 2020; 26 (15): 4107-19.

Kopetz S, Grothey A, Yaeger R, Van Cutsem E, Desai J, Yoshino T, Wasan H, Ciardiello F, Loupakis F, Hong YS, Steeghs N, Guren TK, Arkenau HT, Garcia-Alfonso P, Pfeiffer P, Orlov S, Lonardi S, Elez E, Kim TW, Schellens JHM, Guo C, Krishnan A, Dekervel J, Morris V, Calvo Ferrandiz A, Tarpgaard LS, Braun M, Gollerkeri A, Keir C, Maharry K, Pickard M, Christy-Bittel J, Anderson L, Sandor V, Tabernero J. Encorafenib, Binimetinib, and Cetuximab in BRAF V600E-mutated Colorectal Cancer. N Engl J Med 2019; 381 (17): 1632-43.

Guren MG. The global challenge of colorectal cancer. Lancet Gastroenterology and Hepatology 2019; 4 (12): 894-95.

Smeby J, Sveen A, Merok MA, Danielsen SA, Eilertsen IA, Guren MG, Dienstmann R, Nesbakken A, Lothe RA. CMS-dependent prognostic impact of KRAS and BRAF V600E mutations in primary colorectal cancer. Annals of Oncology 2018; 29 (5): 1227-34.