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Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
Nachrichten, Termine, Experten
The research network is dedicated to investigating how leukemia cells change during the course of the disease and due to therapy. The spokesperson for the new Collaborative Research Center 1709 “Cellular Plasticity in Malignant Myeloid Diseases – From Mechanism to Therapy” is Carsten Müller-Tidow, Professor of Internal Medicine Hematology, Oncology, and Rheumatology, at the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University.
Over the next four years, the German Research Foundation (DFG) will provide approximately €15.8 million in funding for the new Collaborative Research Center (CRC) 1709 “Cellular Plasticity in Malignant Myeloid Diseases – From Mechanism to Therapy,” which will be coordinated by the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University. The joint project aims to research cancers of the blood-forming bone marrow. The scientists are investigating the transformation and adapatbility of cancer cells in different leukemias and precursor diseases. They have access to extensive blood and bone marrow samples preserved in the Heidelberg Cell and Liquid Biobank, among other resources. The CRC research group brings together partners from both basic and clinical research. Researchers from both medical faculties of Heidelberg University, the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), the Berlin Institute of Health at Charité (BIH), the Technical University of Munich, Goethe University Frankfurt (a.M.), and the Paul Ehrlich Institute work closely together. The multidisciplinary expertise of the various groups and the technologies, samples, and data available to them enable cutting-edge research at a level that would not be possible in a single research project.
"The approval of Collaborative Research Center 1709 by the DFG is a great success for the Heidelberg Campus and once again underlines our outstanding position in oncology. The close collaboration between the various research groups in the joint project will further strengthen the clinical translation to develop new, innovative therapeutic approaches against cancer," says Prof. Dr. Michael Boutros, Dean of the Medical Faculty at Heidelberg University.
Cancer cells develop dynamically and undergo constant molecular change: their properties change during the course of the disease and also during therapy. Upon recurrence, cancer properties differ from those at the time of the initial diagnosis. In addition, cancer cells have often “learned” how to resist therapy. The factors that enable or drive this evolution are still not fully understood. “Numerous genetic changes are now known that explain some of these developments. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that this radical change in cellular properties is based on non-genetic mechanisms,” says Prof. Dr. Müller-Tidow, Medical Director of the Department of Hematology, Oncology, and Rheumatology at Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD) and spokesperson for the new CRC. This plasticity of cancer cells is influenced by both intracellular factors and external factors from the cells' immediate environment, such as inflammatory signals. “These mechanisms enable cancer cells to continuously adapt and change. In our CRC, we will investigate the nature of this plasticity and look for ways to block it, thereby paving the way for novel therapies.”
Prof. Dr. Carsten Müller-Tidow is spokesperson for the new Collaborative Research Centre 1709 “Cellu ...
Heidelberg University Hospital
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Prof. Dr. Carsten Müller-Tidow is spokesperson for the new Collaborative Research Centre 1709 “Cellu ...
Heidelberg University Hospital
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