Bronchial carcinoma
Bronchial carcinoma is one of the most common malignant tumors in humans. Despite improved therapy options, many patients still die from this disease. Therefore, our research group has set itself the goal of analyzing the immunopathogenesis of bronchial carcinoma.
Lung cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Factors contributing to its development include smoking and specific genetic characteristics. Treatment options include surgical removal of the tumor, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, which have a low treatment success rate and result in a 5-year survival rate of only 15%. Current studies are focusing on immunotherapies as a new breakthrough treatment option in oncology. Effector and cytotoxic T cells play an indispensable role in ensuring a successful anti-tumor immune response.
In recent years, our group has been involved in the analysis of T cells present in the tumor microenvironment that influence the development and progression of lung carcinomas.
In most tumors, effector functions of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) are inhibited by various factors, such as accumulation of immunosuppressive cells or increased expression of inhibitory receptors, such as programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1). PD-1 contributes to the functional impairment of T cell activation. Furthermore, inhibitory receptors are used by tumor cells to evade an immune response. For this reason, immunotherapies have been developed to reactivate effector immune cells by blocking so-called checkpoint receptors on immunoregulatory cells. In order to identify possible targets of immunotherapy, our group is investigating the influence of different genes and signaling pathways on tumorigenesis and development.
To this end, we are currently analyzing samples from more than 150 patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) in collaboration with the Department of Thoracic Surgery. Tissue samples were taken from three different areas of the lung: the tumor region, the peri-tumoral region surrounding the tumor at a distance of 2 cm, and a control area free of tumor cells. Histological sections are generated from these tissue samples, RNA and proteins are extracted and various cell types are isolated. Further investigations are performed on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). These procedures are necessary to understand specific tumor characteristics and to develop new therapeutic strategies.
Furthermore, using murine models of lung cancer by deleting different genes in specific cell types, we want to investigate what role these might play in the regulation of the immune response to lung cancer.
Current projects include the following:
- Role of STAT5 in NSCLC
- Role of PU.1 in NSCLC
- Role of glucose in the initiation and development of NSCLC
- Role of Blimp-1 in NSCLC
