Aims of the research focus
The local invasion into healthy surrounding tissues and the metastatic distribution into the body during progressive disease are still the major reasons for solid tumor lethality. Consequently, the improvement of systemic cancer therapy represents a central medical need with high social relevance.
In a translational research approach comprising a cooperation of multiple scientific disciplines and clinical research partners we focus on the development/identification of 1) innovative treatment strategies with high tumor-specificity and low adverse effects; 2) novel therapy targets either on the tumor cells or in the cancer microenvironment; 3) prognostic and predictive biomarkers and tests for appropriate patient stratification for novel therapeutic interventions; 4) strategies to circumvent or revert therapy resistance based on a detailed elucidation of the underlying molecular mechanisms.