„Custom-tailored to fit“ - NCT/UCC Dresden develops individualized cancer therapies

National Center for Tumor Diseases Dresden begins several trials for new customized cancer treatment drugs in the spring / Monday (February 4) is World Cancer Day

The National Center for Tumor Diseases Dresden (NCT/UCC) is working intensively on the future of cancer treatment: In April and May, several trials will begin for new customized cancer treatment drugs. "Today, we know that there are hundreds of cancers that can be differentiated from one another. Furthermore, each of these individual diseases can vary from patient to patient and mutate as the disease progresses. Modern, personalized cancer treatment is customized entirely based on individual patient needs," said Prof. Martin Bornhäuser, Managing Director at the NCT/UCC Dresden and Director of the Medical Clinic I of the Carl Gustav Carus University Hospital Dresden in the context of the upcoming World Cancer Day on February 4. In addition to the use of customized drug therapies, the NCT/UCC Dresden also develops new concepts for the operating theatre, where patient data is used to plan and carry out surgical interventions. For example, in the future, innovative systems will be able to display the optimal incision or risk structures in real time. To ensure that patients benefit directly from the latest scientific findings, physicians and scientists from Dresden University Hospital, the Carl Gustav Carus Medical Faculty of Dresden University, the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ) work hand-in-hand at the NCT/UCC Dresden. Combining all forces in the fight against cancer is also a goal of the German government. Accordingly, the Federal Ministry of Education and Research announced the "National Decade against Cancer" on January 29th.

Cancer is as unique as the people who suffer from it. "Cancer treatments in the future will function like a tailor-made suit, individually adjusted to each patient with the highest precision. Due to the large variety of cancer diseases, there is no one-size-fits-all solution" says Prof. Mechthild Krause. As Managing Director of the NCT/UCC Dresden and Director of the Department of Radiotherapy and Radiooncology at the University Hospital Dresden, she is one of the speakers on the topic of personalized oncology at the 1st German Cancer Research Congress, where representatives of the NCT/UCC will discuss the latest research approaches with numerous leading scientists on February 4th  and 5th.

Personalized cancer therapy relies on new diagnostic methods such as the molecular genetic examination of tumor tissue or blood. "We are looking for changes that cause tumors to develop, grow or metastasize. They are important in providing a basis for tailor-made treatment. Ideally, the tumor cell can be combatted precisely at the altered site with targeted therapies," explains Prof. Hanno Glimm, Managing Director at the NCT/UCC Dresden and Head of the Department of Translational Medical Oncology.

Personalized immune therapies signify important progress

At the NCT/UCC Dresden, physicians and scientists use specific biological characteristics of tumors to best prepare the immune system to combat cancer. Since the middle of last year, patients of the University Hospital Dresden could be treated using the innovative CAR-T cell therapy. The immunotherapy, which has so far only been available at a few centers nationwide, offers hope for patients with aggressive lymph gland cancer and certain forms of blood cancer whose tumor cells carry a very specific surface feature called CD19. In the laboratory, the body's own immune cells - against which tumors often successfully camouflage themselves - receive an artificial molecule that works like a navigation system to identify specific surface features. This enables the immune system to recognize and eliminate the tumor cells. "In about 40 percent of patients in whom all conventional therapies previously failed, the cancer disappears in the long-term. This is one of the greatest advances in cancer treatment in a long time," says Dr. Martin Wermke, Head of the Early Clinical Trial Unit at the NCT/UCC Dresden.

Scientists in Dresden are helping to drive therapeutic innovation forward. Researchers led by Prof. Michael Bachmann, Director of the Institute for Radiopharmaceutical Cancer Research at the HZDR, and Prof. Gerhard Ehninger, former Director of the Medical Clinic I at the University Hospital Dresden, are developing not only bispecific antibodies, but also a unique CAR-T cell therapy. This allows altered immune cell activity to be switched on and off and directed toward various surface features. "We can offer our patients at the University Hospital an extraordinarily broad spectrum of personalized immune therapies. Within the scope of trials, further therapies with T-cell receptor-modified T-cells, bispecific antibodies and tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes will be offered starting in April," says Dr. Wermke. "With the trials now beginning, Dresden University Medicine is demonstrating its strength as one of the leading centers for translational research in cancer treatment. Intensive and collegial cooperation between physicians and scientists is one of our core competencies, which is a key to the successful transfer of basic research into patient care," emphasizes Prof. Michael Albrecht, Medical Director of Dresden University Hospital.

Targeted cancer treatment drugs can also act on cancer development processes without activating the immune system. For example, they can prevent growth and multiplication signals from reaching the tumor cell or from forming blood vessels that supply the tumor cell with nutrients and oxygen. Prof. Christian Thomas, newly appointed director of the Department of Urology at the University Hospital Dresden, is researching a protein that is typically responsible for regulating cell division and cell growth. In prostate carcinoma, the tumor can take advantage of the properties of this "Stat5" protein and stimulate its own growth by increasing production. The amount of "Stat5" protein in the prostate tissue of the cancer patient provides the physician with an indication of the aggressiveness and advanced stage of the prostate carcinoma. In several experimental therapeutic trials, the scientist was also able to show that "Stat5" can be switched off in a targeted manner using molecular biological drugs, thereby slowing down tumor growth.

Fewer side effects through individualized treatment

Customized therapeutic approaches also play an important role in reducing side effects. In a recent trial, physicians and researchers at the NCT/UCC Dresden and the NCT Heidelberg investigated whether tumors of the mouth and throat area caused by human papillomaviruses (HPV) could be treated as effectively using a reduced radiation dose. "We reduce the radiation dose in a closely monitored, two-stage process that guarantees the highest possible level of safety for patients. In this manner, we hope to be able to significantly reduce long-term serious side effects such as dry mouth, difficulty swallowing and smell/taste disorders," explains trial leader Prof. Mechthild Krause.

Procedures with higher precision and fewer side effects are possible in cancer surgery as well. Scientists and physicians at the NCT/UCC Dresden are developing computer-based assistance systems designed to support surgeons in planning and performing surgical interventions based on individual patient data. "We offer the surgeon intelligent assistance which functions similar to an automotive navigation system. During an operation, for example, the systems should display the optimal incision or risk structures in real time," explains Prof. Stefanie Speidel, head of the Department of Translational Surgical Oncology. "The development of such assistance systems requires networked operating rooms, such as those currently being built in the new NCT building in Dresden and in the new Surgical Center of the University Hospital (Building 32). This allows a large amount of data to be linked - for example planning data, images generated during the operation or information about the patient and current processes in the operating room," says Prof. Jürgen Weitz, Managing Director at the NCT/UCC Dresden and Director of the Clinic for Visceral, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery.

Personalized cancer therapy, which is still in development in many cases today, will become increasingly popular in the coming years. The NCT-MASTER program explores and implements such possibilities, offering young cancer patients and patients with very rare cancers the opportunity to have genetic material from their tumors analyzed comprehensively. Using this information, interdisciplinary expert panels – known as molecular tumor boards - seek to develop customized therapy solutions. "For many patients, we are able to achieve remarkable results in this manner," says Prof. Hanno Glimm. To date, approximately 1,300 patients from the NCT sites in Heidelberg and Dresden and the sites of the German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research (DKTK) have been included in the program. "Personalized therapy does not necessarily mean that a new drug is developed for each patient. Rather, the treatment is individually adapted to the biology of the respective tumor. To make this possible, our long-term goal is to introduce detailed genetic diagnostics into standard cancer treatment," according to Glimm.

Press Contact:

Dr. Anna Kraft
National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) Dresden Press and public realtions work

Phone: +49 351 458-5548
anna.kraft@nct-dresden.de
www.nct-dresden.de