Translational Cancer Genomics
About our research
- Mission: Conduct translational genomics research that advances our knowledge and transforms the lives of cancer patients.
- Vision: Understand how cancer genomes control carcinogenesis and response to cancer therapy, and use this knowledge to benefit patients
Non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) have significantly expanded the concept of molecular pathogenesis of cancer and have shown great potential to serve as diagnostic tools and therapeutic targets. In the last two decades, hundreds of individual ncRNAs of different classes have been shown to act as tumor suppressors or oncogenes in a wide range of cancers. However, we still lack a synthesis of this knowledge using systems biology approaches to define ncRNA deregulation as a novel hallmark of cancer.
This gap is the focus of our group’s research. Also successful applications of ncRNAs as novel diagnostic or therapeutic targets are still limited. Building on our previous work, we are working on research into innovative ncRNA-based diagnostics and collaborating with industry to develop certified diagnostics for clinical practice. We are also studying novel ncRNAs as potential therapeutic targets and aiming to characterize them in vitro and in vivo along with innovative delivery systems to tumor tissue for potential future testing in non-commercial Phase I/II clinical trials.
Cancer is a disease of the genome. Medical genomics has changed the way we understand this disease today. It is expanding our knowledge of cancer biology and allowing us to identify new therapeutic targets. At the same time, it now helps directly in clinical practice by enabling individually formulated anti-cancer treatment. Harnessing the power of genomics in cancer care has also significantly improved therapeutic outcomes for cancer patients. Our research focuses on the search for genomic alterations in solid tumors, particularly high-risk refractory pediatric cancers, and on evaluating their relevance for precise diagnosis and individualizing treatment. We use various next-generation sequencing platforms to perform DNA and RNA sequencing, single-cell sequencing and methylome analysis. We aim to expand our knowledge of the biology of these rare tumors and potentially identify new therapeutic targets, while leveraging the real-time insights gained from the individual tumor genome for therapeutic planning.
Research objectives
- Non-coding RNAs in solid cancers, studying the function of non-coding RNAs (microRNAs, PIWI-interacting RNAs, long non-coding RNAs, etc.) in the molecular pathology of tumors and their potential use as innovative diagnostic tools and novel therapeutic targets in oncology.
- Cancer genomics and precision oncology. Research of cancer genomics and precision oncology enabling a higher degree of individualization of cancer treatment and a better understanding of tumor biology, using technologies enabling comprehensive genomic profiling.