Pharmacogenomics to reveal cancer-specific molecular vulnerabilities

The development of precision cancer medicine that aims at the specific inhibition of oncogenic targets boosted the success of translational cancer research over the past years. The identification of novel driver oncogenes such as mutant EGFR in lung cancer patients as well as novel therapeutic strategies dramatically changed the therapeutic concepts for the treatment of virtually all cancer types. Despite the unprecedented impact of targeted therapeutics on overall survival of selected patients, the efficacy of targeted therapeutic strategies largely remains disappointing. Inefficient inhibition of the target, primary or acquired resistance and a limited repertoire of chemically accessible targets represent the major obstacles in the field. 

Our lab is interested in the molecular principles that underlie the evolution of resistance against targeted therapies and the translation of genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic analyses into actionable therapeutic strategies for the treatment of cancer patients.