No 16/July 5, 2006
Immunological Approaches to Cancer Treatment New Transregional Collaborative Research Center in Berlin and Munich
Prof. Thomas Blankenstein (Charité/MDC) – spokesperson for the Transregio collaborative research center project (Photographer: David Ausserhofer/Copyright: MDC)
Prof. Dolores Schendel of the Institute of Molecular Immunology and Immune Monitoring Platform of the GSF – deputy spokesperson of the Transregio collaborative research center project (Photographer: Ulla Baumgart/Copyright: GSF)
A new transregional research collaboration to explore new
approaches to cancer treatment with the aid of the immune system was now
established in
The aim of the research is to develop methods to strengthen the body’s own immune system to fight cancer diseases which can no longer be treated using chemotherapy, radiotherapy, or surgery. This form of tumor treatment, which has received very little attention from German researchers to date, is known as adoptive T cell therapy. In this method, T cells which specifically target cancer cells or viral-infected cells are generated outside the body in vitro and then administered to the patient by infusion.
Until now, there has been very little clinical experience with this form of treatment because it is very cost-intensive and difficult to administer. “Our aim is thus to develop methods of making adoptive T cell therapy easier to implement and more effective,” explains Professor Thomas Blankenstein (Charité/MDC), spokesperson of this research undertaking. “The goal is a therapy for hitherto incurable cancer diseases and virus infections.”
“Our aim is to integrate basic research in immunology and clinical research,” stresses Professor Dolores Schendel of the GSF – National Research Center for Environment and Health, who is the deputy spokesperson for this new research project. “We plan to develop experimental systems to generate highly effective T cells.” Simultaneously, the project aims to identify the best conditions for attaining maximum effectiveness, particularly in terms of T cell longevity and functioning. The long-term objective is to produce sufficient quantities of human T cells that can be modified to suit individual patients and then be used clinically. A further deputy spokesperson is Professor Wolfgang Uckert, Institute for Biology, HU Berlin/MDC.
Transregios are special collaborative research undertakings funded by the German Research Foundation in which universities and research centers from different regions carry out long-term multicenter research projects.
Barbara Bachtler
Press and Public Affairs
Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch
Robert-Rössle-Straße 10
13125 Berlin
Germany
Phone.: +49 (0) 30 94 06 - 38 96
Fax: +49 (0) 30 94 06 - 38 33
e-mail: presse@mdc-berlin.de
Heinz-Jörg Haury
GSF – National Research Center
for Environment
and Health
Press and Public Relations
Ingolstädter Landstr. 1
85764 Neuherberg/Oberschleißheim
Germany
Phone: +49/89/ 31 87 - 24 60
Fax: +49/89/ 31 87 - 33 24
e-mail: oea@gsf.de