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Projekt Druckansicht

Charakterisierung von Genen der Chromatin-Remodeling-Komplexe und deren funktionelle Rolle im Rahmen der Hepatokarzinogenese.

Antragsteller Dr. Kornelius Schulze
Fachliche Zuordnung Gastroenterologie
Zellbiologie
Förderung Förderung von 2013 bis 2015
Projektkennung Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Projektnummer 247753630
 
Erstellungsjahr 2016

Zusammenfassung der Projektergebnisse

From the clinical and histopathological point of view, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly heterogeneous disease resulting from a complex molecular background. As seen in other malignant solid tumors, HCC contains a complex genetic diversity and genomic instability, driving hepatocarcinogenesis. Regardless of numerous targeted agents, multiple clinical trials, implementing small molecular inhibitors and monoclonal antibodies into clinical practice, failed in recent years, and sorafenib remains to be the only agent proofing a benefit in overall survival. Among other reasons, inadequate patient selection, which led to a “diluted” treatment effect, is thought to be the reason of treatment failure. Therefore, future clinical trial design needs to implement the individual molecular profile to allocate patients to an adequate targeted treatment and next-generation sequencing studies promise to improve the tumor characterization to optimize personalized treatment for patients with HCC. Within this research fellowship project we were able to define 161 potential cancer driver genes participating in 11 intracellular pathways in HCC by performing whole exome sequencing of 242 hepatic tumors. Associations of mutations centered on three mutated genes related to specific risk factors: CTNNB1 (alcohol), TP53 (hepatitis B virus, HBV) and AXIN1. Furthermore, we identified 2 novel mutational signatures in HCC – signature 23, significantly associated with a new unknown mutagenic mechanism, and signature 24, associated with aflatoxin B1 – and demonstrated that 28% of HCC contain at least one alterations potentially targetable by US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)–approved drugs. Taking into account that the functionality of alterations needs to be further defined in future experimental studies, this could be the first promising step to develop genome-based clinical trials.

Projektbezogene Publikationen (Auswahl)

 
 

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