Article - 09/01/2012 Biomarkers to combat lung cancer A biomarker-driven personalised therapeutic approach to lung cancer is possible – this is the conclusion reached by the BATTLE trial. The preliminary results of the trial were summarised by scientists from the Thoraxklinik at Heidelberg University Hospital in the May 2011 issue of “Clinical Investigation”.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/biomarkers-to-combat-lung-cancer
Press release - 30/10/2012 DKFZ and Genetic Immunity Sign Collaboration Agreement to Develop HPV Therapeutic Vaccine Genetic Immunity, Budapest, a leader in immunotherapy technology product development, and DKFZ (German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany) signed a collaborative agreement to develop a DNA-based vaccine for the treatment of Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) infection that causes cervical cancer and other cancers of the anus, penis, vulva, vagina, and oropharynx. Present HPV vaccines (Cervarix, Gardasil) have no therapeutic effect on…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/dkfz-and-genetic-immunity-sign-collaboration-agreement-to-develop-hpv-therapeutic-vaccine
Article - 05/01/2008 MicroRNA switches off tumour protection The microRNA miR-21 suppresses the production of tumour suppressor Pdcd4 which protects cells from developing cancer. Researchers at the DKFZ have now found out that colorectal cancer cells in particular lack Pdcd4 while these cells have an oversupply of miR-21. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/microrna-switches-off-tumour-protection
Article - 02/12/2008 Cancer cells do not like rocket salad Isothiocyanates which are substances found in vegetables such as rocket kohlrabi or mustard promote good health. Dr. Evelyn Lamy and her team at the Freiburg University Hospital found out that isothiocyanates lead to considerably fewer DNA strand breaks.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/cancer-cells-do-not-like-rocket-salad
Article - 23/07/2009 Making cancer cells commit suicide They divide and divide, and no natural border can stop them. Tumours such as the Ewing sarcoma, a bone cancer that occurs predominantly in teenagers, grow incessantly, making treatment difficult. A few years ago, Prof. Dr. Udo Kontny and his team from the University Hospital in Freiburg discovered a way to stop the growth of this particular tumour by activating a switch on the surface of cells which induces cellular death. Can physicians learn to…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/making-cancer-cells-commit-suicide
Article - 14/07/2014 Enhancers promote the activation of cancer-causing genes Scientists from the EMBL and the DKFZ in Heidelberg have made an important discovery about a highly aggressive childhood brain tumour: the oncogenes are activated as a result of comprehensive DNA rearrangements that had moved them into the vicinity of DNA sequences called enhancers. This activation mechanism might play a role in many types of tumours and therefore has the potential for being used in the targeted development of new, more effective…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/enhancers-promote-the-activation-of-cancer-causing-genes
Press release - 04/12/2009 Signalling molecules play a key role in the immunological defence of cancer Whether tumours develop and spread is dependent, amongst other things, on the body’s ability to defend itself against them. Scientists from the University Women’s Hospital and the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg have identified two signalling molecules in breast cancers that play a key role in activating defence cells against tumours. The scientists also found that patient prognosis improves when activated defence cells are present.…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/signalling-molecules-play-a-key-role-in-the-immunological-defence-of-cancer
Press release - 20/05/2008 Bookmarks in the human book of life Histone acetyltransferases HATs and their antagonists the histone deacetylases are important enzymes in epigenetic gene regulation. Scientists discovered new HAT inhibitors that are now being investigated for their potential as anti-cancer drugs.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/bookmarks-in-the-human-book-of-life
Press release - 24/07/2012 Tailor-made viruses for enhanced cancer therapy Parvoviruses specifically kill cancer cells and are already in the clinical trial stage for treating malignant brain tumors. However, as they can also infect normal cells - without doing any harm to them - a large portion of viruses is lost during therapy. Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ) have now modified parvoviruses in such a way that they initially lose their ability to infect cells. In…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/tailor-made-viruses-for-enhanced-cancer-therapy
Press release - 05/11/2010 Honey Bees: Genetic Labeling Decides About Blue Blood Queen bees and worker bees share the same genome, but they are different in the chemical labeling of about 550 genes. This has been discovered by scientists of the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ), jointly with colleagues in Australia. The cancer researchers had chosen the bee as a study object in order to understand how development can be so different in organisms with identical sequence of genetic material.…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/honey-bees-genetic-labeling-decides-about-blue-blood
Article - 22/03/2019 Personalised therapies for treating metastasing breast cancer Breast cancer is characterised by broad genetic diversity. Successful treatment is made even more difficult by the fact that, in advanced breast cancer, the properties of metastases often differ significantly from the primary tumour. The Heidelberg CATCH study is now collecting genetic profiles from patients' metastasis tissue samples, which can be used to tailor therapy to individual requirements.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/personalisierte-therapieansaetze-bei-metastasiertem-brustkrebs
Press release - 15/11/2011 Lung cancer: CureVac presents results of a Phase I/IIa trial with an mRNA based vaccine CureVac GmbH, the mRNA vaccine company, presented at the 26th Annual SITC Meeting in Washington the results of a Phase I/IIa trial in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) with CV9201, an mRNA-based cancer vaccine, in patients with NSCLC stage IIIB/IV after first-line chemo-radiotherapy or chemotherapy, respectively.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/lung-cancer-curevac-presents-results-of-a-phase-i-iia-trial-with-an-mrna-based-vaccine
Article - 18/08/2014 The use of human genes as medical products In contrast to medications used for treating disease, gene therapy does not use chemical agents to alleviate or cure disease symptoms. Instead, it involves the introduction of a normal copy of a mutated gene to restore the function of a protein. Gene therapy could also be described as a way of restoring the body’s self-healing process. It is an extremely smart idea that enables the sustainable treatment of diseases which cannot usually be…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/the-use-of-human-genes-as-medical-products
Article - 09/03/2008 Successful attack on resistant tumour cells In laboratory experiments Dr. Anja Apel from the University Hospital in Heidelberg proved that cancer cells that are resistant to radiation therapy can be made to become susceptible to this kind of treatment again by blocking the cells own recycling system.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/successful-attack-on-resistant-tumour-cells
Article - 31/03/2017 A novel mechanism of cancer development Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) infections occur in almost all adults worldwide and are a high risk factor for some types of cancer. Researchers from Heidelberg have now come up with a novel mechanism that promotes carcinogenesis involving an EBV protein rather than the genome of the virus. The EBV protein BNRF1 induces the excessive amplification of the centrosomes of the spindle apparatus, and leads to chromosomal instability and inaccurate…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/a-novel-mechanism-of-cancer-development
Press release - 09/12/2020 Combatting cancer with biological circuits The Freiburg engineer and biologist Prof. Dr. Barbara Di Ventura receives a Consolidator Grant from the European Research Council (ERC), one of the most prestigious prizes for European researchers, for her project "InCanTeSiMo - Intelligent cancer therapy with synthetic biology methods". Di Ventura will use the 2 Million Euros to develop a novel cancer treatment based on molecular methods from synthetic biology.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/combatting-cancer-biological-circuits
Press release - 21/05/2010 The molecular network of “death receptors” on trial The international ApoNET research project, which is part of a European-wide systems biology initiative, is coordinated by the Mannheim Medical Faculty at the University of Heidelberg. ApoNET researchers use modern genome sequencing methods and computer models to gain a better understanding of apoptosis networks in liver cells. The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the European Union with 1.7 million…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/the-molecular-network-of-death-receptors-on-trial
Press release - 04/04/2011 Nanomaterials trap cancer cells An international team of researchers led by Dr. Rutledge Ellis-Behnke, Director of the “Nanomedicine Translational Think Tank” at the Mannheim Medical Faculty at Universität Heidelberg, has developed a method that has the potential to prevent cancer stem cells from dividing and metastasising. The trick is to use nanomaterials that trap cancer stem cells.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/nanomaterials-trap-cancer-cells
Article - 18/01/2018 Medications that target metastasing tumours Tumour metastases are often resistant to the drug that is used to eliminate the primary tumour. Genome-wide analyses of mutation patterns in the primary tumour and its metastases provide information on the aggressiveness of cancer and may help to find the best available means of further treatment. This has been demonstrated by scientists from Heidelberg in a clinical trial on the molecular evolution of renal cancer.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/medications-that-target-metastasing-tumours
Article - 11/05/2009 Metastasis-inducing cancer stem cells Just a small subpopulation of cancer cells namely metastasis-inducing cancer stem cells MICs is potentially responsible for the formation of distant malignant tumour metastases. The characterisation of MICs and the clarification of mechanisms that lead to their reactivation from a dormant state opens up new strategies for the development of new effective therapies against metastasising tumours.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/metastasis-inducing-cancer-stem-cells
Article - 20/01/2020 Brain tumour patients could benefit from heavy ion therapy Glioblastoma is a malignant brain tumour. It does not respond anywhere near as well to conventional forms of therapy than other tumours because it contains particularly resistant cancer cells. Scientists at the Heidelberg Ion Beam Therapy Center (HIT) at Heidelberg University Hospital and the German Cancer Research Center have shown that heavy ion therapy is effective against these cells.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/Brain-tumour-patients-could-benefit-from-heavy-ion-therapy
Article - 18/10/2017 Testing a new antibody therapy for treating blood cancer The fight against acute myeloid leukaemia is a long one. Cancer cells that cause the disease to recur may remain despite initially successful destruction of the tumour with chemotherapy drugs. Now researchers from Tübingen have identified an antibody that could potentially prevent cancer recurrence.https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/testing-a-new-antibody-therapy-for-treating-blood-cancer
Press release - 10/12/2008 CureVac to Start First mRNA Vaccine Clinical Trial in Prostate Cancer The German regulatory authority has approved the Clinical Trial Application CTA to begin a Phase I clinical study with RNActive - derived mRNA vaccine CV9103. It will be tested in patients with hormone-refractory metastatic prostate cancer. https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/press-release/curevac-to-start-first-mrna-vaccine-clinical-trial-in-prostate-cancer
Article - 18/03/2010 Cancer treatment adapted to individual patient requirements There is still no treatment available for a number of non-Hodgkin B-cell lymphomas. Chemotherapy, which is the standard method of treating the lymphomas, has unpleasant side effects. Researchers led by Prof. Dr. Hendrik Veelken at the Freiburg University Medical Centre in cooperation with Freiburg-based CellGenix Technologie Transfer GmbH have developed a promising new treatment strategy. Results of the Phase I and the Phase II study, which has…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/cancer-treatment-adapted-to-individual-patient-requirements
Article - 13/10/2014 Personalised cancer therapy based on microRNA analysis microRNAs are not just required for the regulation of gene expression, their expression signatures also allow conclusions to be drawn on the type and progression of cancer. Sensovation AG is therefore working with partners from industry and clinical research to develop an automated microRNA analysis platform that can detect and evaluate microRNA signatures faster than has previously been possible. The system is designed to make it easier to…https://www.gesundheitsindustrie-bw.de/en/article/news/personalised-cancer-therapy-based-on-microrna-analysis