Summary

Signaling and clinical development of molecular tumor therapies

Our expertise is the preclinical and clinical development of molecular tumor therapies in the context of personalized medicine. We focus on signal transduction of oncogenic tyrosine kinases in hematological neoplasia and solid tumours and explore mechanisms of the development of therapy resistance and tumor escape. One of the key expertises lies in autologous and allogeneic stem cell transplantation and its risk management and complications, particularly in regards to development of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and leukemia relapse post allo-HCT. Recent phase 3 randomized trials underline the clinical efficacy of the JAK1/2 inhibitor Ruxolitinib for acute and chronic GVHD. Preclinical observations suggest that JAK1/2 inhibition acts via shifting the microenvironment towards immune suppression, e.g. by expansion of regulatory T cells under this therapy. The trials are further accompanied by detailed research programs on immune cell composition and inflammatory signatures in patients before Ruxolitinib therapy and to different time points after therapy. Our scientific research is embedded within the German Cancer Consortium (DKTK Program“Molecular Targeted Therapies”) and the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft .