Project Details
Projekt
The role of non-coding RNAs in metastatic colonisation and microenvironmental adaptation during metronomic therapy (A06)
Subject Area
Hematology, Oncology
Term
since 2021
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 429280966
The development of metastases from disseminated cancer cells requires adaptation to potentially hostile environments. One factor creating such a hostile environment is chemotherapy, e.g. adjuvant chemotherapy after removal of a primary malignancy. Adaptation of early disseminated cancer cells and formation of metastatic colonies resulting in recurrent disease is a main reason for cancer mortality. In this setting, low-dose metronomic therapy (LDM), which is the daily, long-term low-dose administration of chemotherapeutic drugs, has been successful in patients refractory to standard chemotherapy. Non-coding RNAs play a crucial role during colonization of disseminated cancer cells and the development of cancer metastasis under LDM. We found several lncRNAs that encode for micropeptides, most of them with unknown functions. Project A06 will assess how non-coding RNAs and micropeptides derived from lncRNAs affect metastatic colony formation during LDM. We hypothesize that the highly complex and plastic ‘non-coding’ transcriptome is an important regulator of metastatic colonization and response to or escape from chemotherapy.
DFG Programme
CRC/Transregios
Subproject of
TRR 305:
Striking a moving target: From mechanisms of metastatic colonization to novel systemic therapies
Applicant Institution
Universität Regensburg
