Sigrid V. Carlsson, MD, PhD, MPH

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

New York, New York

Sigrid V. Carlsson, MD, PhD, MPH, is Director of Clinical Research at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center’s (MSKCC) Josie Robertson Surgery Center and Assistant Attending Epidemiologist, with dual appointments in MSKCC’s Departments of Surgery (Urology Service) and Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Her line of research focuses on screening and early detection of prostate cancer, including multiplex testing and risk-stratified strategies that incorporate clinical information, biomarkers and magnetic resonance imaging, as recently funded by an NIH/NCI U01 award (PI: Carlsson).

Dr. Carlsson also serves as Associate Professor of Experimental Urology affiliated with the Institute of Clinical Sciences, Sahlgrenska Academy, Gothenburg University, in Sweden, where she is an investigator of two large randomized controlled trials of prostate cancer screening (GOTEBORG-1&2), as recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine (Hugosson J, et al. N Engl J Med 2022). In addition, Dr. Carlsson is Adjunct Senior Lecturer in the Department of Translational Medicine in the Division of Urological Cancers in the Medical Faculty at Lund University, Lund, Sweden.

Dr. Carlsson recently completed a K22 career development award from the NIH/NCI to improve shared decision-making for breast and prostate cancer screening. She serves on the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) and is a panel member for the American Urological Association (AUA) guidelines for early detection of prostate cancer. Before pursuing postdoctoral studies in urologic oncology at MSKCC, Dr. Carlsson was a physician in Sweden. She earned her MD and PhD from Gothenburg University in Sweden and earned an MPH from Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health in Boston, Massachusetts.

Disclosures:

Dr. Carlsson has the following disclosures:
Travel reimbursement and honorarium from Ipsen
Travel reimbursement from Carden Jennings Publishing
Advisory board for Prostatype Genomics
Associate Editor, BJUI
Guideline committees: NCCN, AUA, PCF
Research grant support: NIH/NCI (P30-CA008748, U01-CA266535), Prostate Cancer Foundation, American Cancer Society

Talks by Sigrid V. Carlsson, MD, PhD, MPH

ChatGPT and AI for Academic Urologists: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

Posted by Sigrid V. Carlsson, MD, PhD, MPH | Sep 2024

Sigrid V. Carlsson, MD, PhD, MPH, explores the role of generative AI, particularly large language models (LLMs), in enhancing academic and research activities, while highlighting both the benefits and challenges associated with these technologies. In this 8-minute talk, she focuses on LLMs, such as ChatGPT, Grammarly, and Google Gemini, which produce text and are widely used by researchers to improve grammar, style, and clarity.

The presentation also addresses significant ethical and practical concerns related to AI usage. Dr. Carlsson stresses that AI should not be treated as a substitute for human expertise but as a supplementary tool that requires diligent oversight.

Who Needs a Prostate Biopsy? Risk-stratification Strategies Before Prostate Biopsy

Posted by Sigrid V. Carlsson, MD, PhD, MPH | Sep 2024

Sigrid V. Carlsson, MD, PhD, MPH, discusses the evolving paradigm in prostate cancer diagnostics, moving away from the traditional model where an elevated prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level directly leads to a biopsy. In this 8-minute talk, she emphasizes the importance of incorporating risk stratification methods before proceeding to biopsy, which helps reduce unnecessary interventions.

Dr. Carlsson discusses current guidelines that recommend using MRI as part of the initial biopsy strategy, with a more mandatory role in repeat biopsy settings if it has not previously been performed. Risk calculators provide a cost-effective and accessible means to estimate the likelihood of high-grade disease, further refining the decision-making process.

The presentation also highlights the rapid advancement in biomarkers and the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) in improving MRI interpretation and enhancing prostate cancer diagnostics’ accuracy and efficiency.

Year in Review: Emerging Data and Advances in Prostate Cancer Screening

Posted by Sigrid V. Carlsson, MD, PhD, MPH | Feb 2024

Sigrid V. Carlsson, MD, PhD, MPH, presents an overview of advances and emerging trends in prostate cancer screening in 2023. Dr. Carlson begins by presenting data supporting the continued use of routine PSA tests for prostate cancer screening, while highlighting the need for more granular risk stratification based on individual PSA baselines to bridge existing mortality gaps based on individual PSA baselines.

Dr. Carlsson then examines current trends in using genetics for biopsy risk stratification. She presents evidence that the polygenic risk scores which predict prostate cancer incidence are not useful in predicting mortality. She then discusses the role of biomarkers, risk calculators, and MRI-based screening techniques that are available pre-biopsy.

Turning to emerging data, Dr. Carlsson concludes by presenting a selection of national and international ongoing efforts to develop risk-stratified algorithms for early prostate cancer detection. She touches on the European Union’s “Praise U” initiative, Germany’s “PROBASE” trial, the Stockholm 3 trial, and the ProScreen study.

Prostate Cancer Screening in 2023

Posted by Sigrid V. Carlsson, MD, PhD, MPH | Apr 2023

Sigrid V. Carlsson, MD, PhD, MPH discusses prostate cancer screening, focusing on PSA screening, risk calculators, biomarkers, and MRI.

Screening and Prevention of Prostate Cancer 2021 (Part 3): Incorporating MRI for Early Detection

Posted by Sigrid V. Carlsson, MD, PhD, MPH | Jun 2021

In the final part of a 3-part series, Sigrid V. Carlsson, MD, PhD, MPH, Assistant Attending Epidemiologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, considers the current role of MRI in early detection of prostate cancer. She explains that while MRI is a useful screening tool, it is not foolproof, and its accuracy varies widely depending on user expertise. For this reason, using a negative MRI to justify not getting a biopsy is not always strongly advised. However, many studies are underway that may identify combinations of MRI and biomarker tests that will ultimately help patients avoid more unnecessary biopsies.