This respiratory illness season, wearing a mask is required in patient and resident areas at Sunnybrook. Read our visitor guidelines »

Genitourinary team

Prostate care

Dr. Urban Emmenegger, MD

Medical Oncologist
Associate scientist

Odette Cancer Centre
Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
2075 Bayview Ave., Room T2-006
Toronto, ON
M4N 3M5


Phone: 416-480-4928
Fax: 416-480-6002

Clinical profile Show/hide details

Administrative Assistant: Karen Corbett
Phone: 416-480-6100 ext. 64928
Fax: 416-480-6002

Clinically, Dr. Emmenegger has a regular outpatient clinic for patients with castration-resistant prostate cancer. He also has a special interest in patients with bone metastasis, and is the director of our prostate cancer bone metastasis clinic.

Research ProfileShow/hide details

Education:

  • MD, 1992, University of Bern, Switzerland

Appointments and Affiliations:

  • Scientist, Biological Sciences, Odette Cancer Research Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute
  • Medical oncologist, Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre
  • Director, prostate cancer bone metastasis clinic, Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook
  • Assistant professor, department of medicine, University of Toronto
  • Associate member, Institute of Medical Science, U of T

Research Foci:

  • Metronomic chemotherapy
  • Therapeutic resistance
  • Castration-resistant prostate cancer
  • Drug-drug interactions

Research Summary:

Dr. Emmenegger's lab aims to improve metronomic chemotherapy, the frequent and sustained use of conventional chemotherapeutic agents at low doses to produce antiangiogenic and immunomodulatory anti-tumour effects in the absence of high-grade side effects.

Current projects include the following:

  • Characterization of mechanisms of resistance to metronomic chemotherapy, including the role of autophagy
  • Use of patient plasma samples to identify microRNAs that can predict response to metronomic chemotherapy.

As an expansion of his clinical focus in the systemic management of castration-resistant prostate cancer, Dr. Emmenegger and his team are studying how fibroblast growth factor 23 contributes to aggressive prostate cancer behaviour.

Aside from Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trial activities, Dr. Emmenegger is also interested in identifying clinically relevant drug-drug interactions between novel prostate cancer medications and treatments frequently used by the average prostate cancer patient, who are typically older and have numerous comorbidities.

Selected Publications:

See current publications list at PubMed.

Related News and Stories