A personalized multi-omics discovery and validation platform for recurrent head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (POLARES)
Group Giger Head and Neck Anticancer Center
POLARES Research Group
Diagnostic and therapeutic developments in recent years have improved the prognosis for patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Despite these developments, a significant proportion of patients relapse after an initial response to standard treatment. Salvage treatment options are limited, and personalized treatment approaches that consider the genomic/epigenetic landscape of the tumor are lacking. The goal of this research is to establish a center of excellence in HNSCC that bridges the gap between genomic analysis and translation of findings into clinical trials. By establishing a multi-omics discovery and validation platform under the umbrella of the University Cancer Center Inselspital (UCI), this consortium (ORL, Head and Neck Surgery; Medical Oncology; Radiation-Oncology) aims to determine how alterations at the genomic and epigenetic level regulate carcinogenesis, treatment response and resistance in HNSCC and thereby identify novel mechanisms to target tumor relapse.
On behalf of the Consortium:
Prof. Dr. Roland Giger (Lead), Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery; PD Dr. Olgun Elicin, Radio-Oncology; Dr. Simon Häfliger, Medical Oncology; PD Dr. Michaela Medová, Radio-Oncology, DBMR; Prof. Dr. Carsten Riether, Medical Oncology, DBMR; Dr. Daniel H. Schanne, Radio-Oncology
Determing tumor lipid heterogeneity in lung cancer
Konstantinidou group. PD. Dr. Georgia Konstantinidou, PhD
Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related deaths worldwide. Tumor-associated mutations of KRAS occur in approximately 30% of non-small cell lung cancer, the most common form of lung cancer.
KRAS mutations are associated with aggressive, metastatic, and treatment-resistant cancers in both humans and mouse models. Mutant KRAS drives a complex network of lipid metabolic rearrangements to help cancer cells adapt to hypoxia and ensure their survival.
We plan to determine the transcriptomic and lipidomic changes that occur in lung tumors during cancer progression and therapy resistance and assess their functional significance, accounting for tumor-to-tumor heterogeneity while preserving the spatial organization of cancer cell populations within the tumor microenvironment.
Targeting cellular metabolism to augment cancer therapy
Marti Group. PD Dr. med. Thomas Marti
The aim of this project is to investigate how the nucleotide/lactate metabolism and the DNA damage response machinery are associated with the tumor initiating capacity, the chemotherapy response, and the metastatic capacity of lung and mesothelioma cancer stem cells. In addition, we are exploiting treatment induced cellular adaptations as novel targets for cancer therapy.