Press Releases 2006
Immunological Approaches to Cancer Treatment – New Transregional Collaborative Research Center in Berlin and Munich
Professor Thomas Blankenstein (Charité/MDC), spokesperson of the Transregional Collaborative Research Center. Photo: David Ausserhofer/MDC. [Photo download in 300 dpi]
Professor Dolores Schendel of the GSF – National Research Center for Environment and Health, deputy spokesperson of the Transregional Collaborative Research Center.
Photo: Ulla Buamgart/GSF.
[Photo download in 300 dpi]
A new transregional research collaboration to explore new approaches to cancer treatment with the aid of the immune system was now established in Berlin and Munich. The project “Principles and Applications of Adoptive T Cell Therapy” is a long-term multicenter research undertaking involving the Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin (Free University Berlin und Humboldt University), the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, the GSF – National Research Center for Environment and Health in Munich as well as the Technical University and the Ludwig Maximilian University (both Munich) and the German Rheuma Research Center, Berlin. The German Research Foundation (DFG) is allocating six million euros to this Transregional Collaborative Research Center project (Transregio or SFB/TR for short), initially for the next four years.
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.
Further information:
- 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
- Barbara Bachtler, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine(MDC) Berlin-Buch, Press and Public Affairs, Robert-Rössle-Str. 10; D-13125 Berlin, Germany; Phone: +49/30/9406-38 96, Fax.: +49/30/9406-38 33, e-mail: bachtler@mdc-berlin.de
Neuherberg and Berlin, 29. Juni 2006