Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and Medical Faculty Mannheim of the Heidelberg University investigated in mice how spreading tumor cells behave at the site of metastasis: Some tumor cells immediately start to form metastases. Others leave the blood vessel and may then enter a long period of dormancy. What determines which path the cancer cells take is their epigenetic status.

A precursor of cholesterol can protect cancer cells from a form of cell death known as ferroptosis. Scientists of the University of Würzburg, the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), and the Stem Cell Institute HI-STEM* published this finding in the journal Nature. The results opens up exciting prospects for further improving the treatment of cancer and other diseases associated with oxidative stress and ferroptosis.

A high-fat, high-sugar diet damages the liver in the long term. Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have now identified a characteristic change in the molecular signaling pathways of liver cells in mice that were exposed to such a diet for weeks. It fuels the division activity of hepatocytes and correlates with the risk of patients suffering liver failure after liver surgery.

Artificial intelligence (AI) can help dermatologists to detect skin cancer. However, many dermatologists distrust the algorithms' decisions, which they cannot comprehend. Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center have now developed an AI-based support system for skin cancer diagnostics that explains its decisions.

Certain brain tumors in small children contain cells that develop very similarly to normal brain cells and others that have already developed malignantly, depending on where they are located within the tumor.

Mutations of the tumor suppressor p53 not only have a growth-promoting effect on the cancer cells themselves, but also influence the cells in the tumor's microenvironment. Scientists at the Weizmann Institute in Israel and at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have now shown that p53-mutated mouse breast cancer cells reprogram fat cells.

Heidelberg scientists unveil genetic programmes controlling the development of cellular diversity in the cerebellum of humans and other mammals. The research results have now been published in the journal Nature.

The progression of multiple sclerosis (MS) can usually be slowed down with medication, but a cure is currently not possible. It is now established that Epstein-Barr viruses are involved in the development of MS. However, it is not known how the pathogens trigger the disease. The European Union is now funding the international research consortium BEHIND-MS as part of its HORIZON Europe program.

All cancer cells - even those within the same tumor - differ from each other and change over the course of a cancer disease. Scientists at Heidelberg University Hospital, the Medical Faculty in Heidelberg and the German Cancer Research Center discovered molecular changes in multiple myeloma that help individual cancer cells to survive therapy.

Epigenetically active drugs enable the cell to read parts of the genome that were previously blocked and inaccessible. This leads to the formation of new mRNA transcripts and also new proteins, as scientists from the German Cancer Research Center and the University Hospital Tübingen have now published. These "therapy-induced epitopes" could help the immune system recognize cancer cells.

Epigenetically active drugs enable the cell to read parts of the genome that were previously blocked and inaccessible. This leads to the formation of new mRNA transcripts and also new proteins, as scientists from the German Cancer Research Center and the University Hospital Tübingen have now published. These "therapy-induced epitopes" could help the immune system recognize cancer cells.

Why are severe courses of SARS-CoV-2 infection less common in children and adolescents than in adults? Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) have now discovered that the immune system in the upper respiratory tract is much more alert and active in children before infection than in adults and is therefore better equipped to fight the virus.

Tumor vaccines can help the body fight cancer. These vaccines alert the patient's immune system to proteins that are harbouring cancer-typical alterations. Physicians and cancer researchers from Heidelberg and Mannheim have now treated adult patients with advanced midline gliomas, difficult-to-treat brain tumors, with a peptide vaccine for the first time.

Current diagnostic methods do not always reliably distinguish between chronic inflammation of the pancreas and pancreatic cancer. About one third of all diagnoses are inconclusive. Scientists from the German Cancer Research (DKFZ) and from Heidelberg University Hospital (UKHD) therefore searched for molecular markers that could specify this diagnosis.

Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute have developed an AI system that recognizes and characterizes white and red blood cells in microscopic images of blood samples. The algorithm can help physicians diagnose blood disorders and is available as an open source method for research purposes.

Tumour organoids facilitate drug discovery - 20/07/2023

Drug screening for children with cancer using patient-specific miniature tumours

Standard drugs often don’t work in children and adolescents with recurrent cancer. Researchers from the Hopp Children's Tumour Centre (KITZ) and the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) in Heidelberg have been looking to open up new therapy options for those affected, and have cultivated individual miniature tumours from biopsy samples to test the effectiveness of a variety of drugs within a few weeks.

The function of mast cells, which are part of the immune system, is still a mystery. Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have now shown in mice: mast cells function as a sensor that signals the animals to avoid antigens, including harmful allergens, and thereby protect themselves from health-threatening inflammatory reactions. The findings were published in the journal Nature.

Predicting the success of cancer treatment - 20/06/2023

Focusing on gut microbiome for CAR T-cell therapy

Cancer immunotherapies use the body's own defences to fight tumour cells. An international consortium of researchers from Germany and the USA led by the DKFZ in Heidelberg has demonstrated that the effectiveness of CAR T-cell therapies greatly depends on the composition of the gut microbiome. The researchers have also developed a model for predicting the long-term response to the treatment.

In most cancers, it is not the growth of the primary tumor that determines the prognosis for the patient, but whether it will spread and form metastases. This process is very complex. There are often years between the development of the cancer and the aggressive growth of the metastases. Scientists from the DKFZ, the HI-STEM, the Ruhr University Bochum, Helmholtz Munich and ETH Zurich have studied and identified metastasis growth in breast cancer

Impaired function of lung fibroblast is considered causative for symptoms of the incurable lung disease COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). Using high-resolution epigenetic profiling, German and British scientists have now identified potential targets for COPD treatment. The team detected early epigenetic changes in the genome of COPD fibroblasts, providing new insights into the disease pathogenesis and potential therapeutic avenues.

Inflammatory fatty liver disease (NASH, non alcoholic steatohepatitis ) and the resulting liver cancer are driven by autoaggressive T cells. Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) now show what ist behind this destructive behavior. In both mice and humans with NASH, they found increased numbers of activated B cells in the gastrointestinal tract.

The recently established ITCC-P4 gGmbH provides academic institutions and pharmaceutical companies with a comprehensive repertoire of modern laboratory models of pediatric tumors. The aim is to systematically test new treatment options for children and adolescents with cancer and to contribute data to regulatory approval processes in order to make the development of new cancer therapies for children and adolescents more attractive.

A key enzyme in sugar metabolism is inactivated particularly easily and efficiently by oxidative stress. Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) have now shown that with this oxidation, cells switch to an alternative sugar breakdown pathway and can thus escape oxidative stress. Cancer cells in particular benefit from this mechanism, which can also protect them from therapy-related damage.

How can camera images be used during minimally invasive surgeries to assess whether the operated organ is sufficiently perfused with blood? Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the Städtisches Klinikum Karlsruhe have now succeeded in automatic monitoring of ischemia during a kidney surgery using only the optical properties of the tissue and not relying on injection of contrast agent.

Cancer immunotherapies often fail because the immune cells are paralysed by immunosuppressive conditions in the tumor. Scientists from Heidelberg, Mannheim and Tel Aviv have now shown on tissue samples from patients as well as on tumor models in mice that the functionality of the immune defence depends decisively on certain helper cells.