Projects
Unraveling the common genetic basis for COPD, emphysema and lung cancer. KU Leuven
Lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are two smoking-related respiratory disorders that are both leading causes of mortality worldwide. Between 50% and 90% of smokers diagnosed with lung cancer have pre-existing COPD. The frequent co-occurrence of both diseases in the same patient is not only due to shared risk factors, such as age and smoking, but also because COPD independently increases the risk of lung cancer up to ...
Study of pro-survival effects of increased lipogenesis in cancer cells: implications for carcinogenesis and therapy. KU Leuven
Unraveling the regulation of serine biosynthesis in breast cancer cells. KU Leuven
Breast cancer is the most frequent type of tumor among women worldwide, accounting for 24.2% of all the tumor cases. Due to these tremendous incidences, breast cancer is also the type of tumor causing the highest number of deaths, indeed around 600.000 women die every year because of this disease. By taking a closer look at the prognosis of patients diagnosed with breast cancer, it appears evident that the progression of the disease towards a ...
Cancer during pregnancy: long-term follow-up of neuropsychological and behavioral development of children after antenatal exposure to chemo- and/or radiotherapy KU Leuven
Today, cancer during pregnancy has become increasingly prevalent, largely because of the recent trend to postpone childbearing until a more mature age. The current prevalence in Europe is 1 in 1000 pregnancies, with breast cancer and hematological cancers accounting for more than half. When cancer is diagnosed in an expecting mother, the decision whether or not to start treatment strikes a delicate balance between the well-being of the mother ...
A molecular approach to understand breast cancer cell dormancy. KU Leuven
Breast cancer remains the second-leading cause of death in women. One of the big issues in breast cancer is that tumor cells can remain in a dormant state for many years before they grow into secondary tumors. Such recurrent cancers are often resistant to chemotherapy, resulting in poor prognosis. Our objectives are to understand the molecular mechanisms that drive cancer cells into dormancy, that maintain cancer in dormancy and that trigger ...
The role of TOP3B in AR-mediated transcription and genomic stability in prostate cancer. KU Leuven
Prostate cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in men, with an estimated 1.1 million diagnoses worldwide in 2012, accounting for 15% of all cancers diagnosed. The clinical diagnosis of prostate cancer is based on three clinical features, which are the digital rectal examination (DRE), prostate-specific antigen (PSA) measurements and prostate biopsies. When diagnosed, prostate cancer is known to be a disease with highly variable ...
Discovering a novel anti-cancer strategy: Inhibiting INF2 to specifically kill cancer cells KU Leuven
Despite progress in cancer therapies, the occurrence of untreatable cancers, such as liver cancer, is growing worldwide. Therefore, novel therapeutic strategies are urgently needed. We recently made an exciting discovery: Using mouse models for liver cancer we found a gene whose deletion completely eliminated liver cancer but did not otherwise affect the health of adult mice. Therefore, this gene presents a novel avenue for targeted therapy ...
Targeting the Hippo pathway for cancer therapy: Discovering endogenous tumor suppressor mechanisms KU Leuven
Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, currently responsible for about 10 million deaths every year. Unfortunately, despite extensive research within this field, how cancer originates is not completely understood. The predominant theory about the genesis of cancer suggests that it arise when cells accumulate a certain amount of driver mutations. These mutations reprogram normal cells into cancerous cells, through progressive changes ...
Extracellular Vesicle Tracking using surface proteins and Resonance Assays to detect breast Cancer in Early stage (EV-TRACE) KU Leuven
Problem
Early detection reduces cancer-related deaths because time is a matter of life and death for a cancer victim. Diagnostic screening tests must be sensitive, specific, inexpensive, non-invasive and provide sufficient lead-time. Single markers typically lack sensitivity and specificity. Extracellular Vesicles (EV) in liquid biopsies hold promise in the non-invasive detection of cancer because their molecular content (proteins, ...