Neuroblastom

A tumor often arises when cancer genes multiply. In this process, additional genes act as hitchhikers, potentially creating previously unknown vulnerabilities that open the door to new therapeutic approaches. This finding is reported by a team led by ECRC-scientists Anton Henssen and Jan Dörr in "Cancer Discovery."

Neuroblastoma is the third most common malignancy in children. 16 labs at the Max Delbrück Center and other Berlin-based researchers will investigate how they originate and grow in a new Collaborative Research Centre. The project, supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG), has been granted approximately €13.5 million.

Sometimes a tumor suddenly starts growing rapidly or becomes resistant to cancerdrugs. This can be caused by a cancer gene “striking out on its own” in ring shapes. ECRC-scientist Anton Henssen described how these DNA rings arise and continue to develop in the journal “Nature Genetics”.

A new therapeutic agent may offer hope to young people suffering from a severe form of muscle cancer. As a research team led by Anton Henssen reports in “Nature Communications”, this agent prevents the repair of DNA damage in cancer cells, ultimately causing their death.

The genetic material of individual cancer cells within a tumor varies – including in neuroblastoma, a cancer that predominantly occurs in early childhood. What’s more, these genetic differences are constantly evolving, as researchers from Charité and the MDC report in "Nature Communications".

Virchow 2.0, the only finalist from Berlin to make it to the second round of the BMBF’s Clusters4Future competition, is entering the conception phase. At a kick-off meeting on September 27, 2021, participants from the scientific, clinical, and business communities offered a preview of their cluster strategy.

Tumor cells search for niches in tissue where they can grow and multiply. Uta Höpken studies how these cells migrate through the body and interact with other cells in their special niches. Her goal is to use this knowledge to train therapeutic CAR T cells to detect and destroy cancer cells.

Dr. Stefanie Grosswendt develops new methods to analyse cell interaction in embryos and neuroblastoma, an early childhood cancer, at the level of the individual cell. The group leader has received the BSIO Female Independence Award for her research.

Anton Henssen of the ECRC has been awarded the Kind Philipp Award for Pediatric Oncology Research for his study of ring-shaped DNA and its significance in the development of childhood neuroblastoma. A publication in the scientific journal Nature Genetics was decisive for this award.

How does cancer develop and how does it progress? Dr. Anton Henssen from the Experimental and Clinical Research Center (ECRC) wants to find out more about circular DNA in order to use its cancer cell-specific characteristics for therapy, diagnosis or clinical prognosis. He has now been awarded an ERC Starting Grant.