Projects
The role of the Protein Phosphatase 2A Activator PTPA in KRAS-mutant non-small-cell lung cancer development and treatment resistance KU Leuven
Reversible protein phosphorylation, catalyzed by kinases and phosphatases, is arguably one of the most prominent signaling mechanisms in the human cell. Protein Phosphatase 2A (PP2A) is a major family of Serine/Threonine protein phosphatases of which the members are involved in a broad array of cellular processes, such as mitogenic signaling, growth, cell division, DNA transcription, protein translation, DNA damage signaling and repair, ...
Targeted detection of nucleic acid mutations for improved lung cancer diagnostics in liquid biopsies KU Leuven
In this project we aimed to improve the current molecular diagnostics approaches for lung cancer- related mutation detection in liquid biopsies. Liquid biopsy refers to sampling and analysis of biological fluids—typically blood—and has potential for screening, diagnosis, predicting and monitoring of treatment response. However, current assays based on circulating tumor DNA (DNA released by tumor cells in the blood) suffer from sensitivity ...
A single-cell approach to identify biomarkers of efficacy and toxicity for immune checkpoint blockade in non-small cell lung cancer. KU Leuven
Immunotherapy, and specifically immune checkpoint inhibition (ICI), has revolutionized care for lung cancer patients. Despite the undeniable progress, ICI has also brought along a whole new spectrum of side effects termed immune-related adverse events (irAEs). ICI-pneumonitis is an irAE of special interest; it has a high prevalence in anti-PD-1/PD-L1 treated lung cancer patients and is the most frequent fatal irAE in this population. This ...
FLASH radiation therapy to improve the therapeutic management of breast cancer by reducing radiationÂinduced skin, soft tissue, lung and heart toxicities. University of Antwerp
Molecular imaging and molecular profiling for head and neck, lung and rectal cancer MRT: application in dose-painting and response prediction. KU Leuven
Molecular imaging and molecular profiling for head, neck, lung and rectal cancer MRT: application in dose-painting and response prediction. Ghent University
The KUL-UCL-UG consortium has been contributing since 2003 (thanks to the support of the Foundation against Cancer) to validate the use of molecular imaging in Target Volume (TV) delineation for the treatment of head and neck (H1N), and rectal cancers. In line with the previous researchprojects, the general aim of the study proposal is: 1) to validate the dose-painting approach to escalate radiation dose on TV(s) delineated onPET images using ...
Improving outcome of immune checkpoint blockade in lung cancer by combination with a tumor mutanome-targeted dendritic cell vaccine Ghent University
It is becoming increasingly clear that somatic mutations in tumors induce nee-antigens and that these nee-antigens induce antitumoral immune response that may inhibit tumor growth. Malignancies with high mutation rates such as lung carcinoma have therefore statistically a higher chance of being under immunological attack than malignancies with few mutations. The clinical relevance of these immune responses seemed small as little antitumoral ...
Improving outcome of immune checkpoint blockade in lung cancer by combination with a tumor mutanome-targeted dendritic cell vaccine Ghent University
It is becoming increasingly clear that somatic mutations in tumors induce nee-antigens and that these nee-antigens induce antitumoral immune response that may inhibit tumor growth. Malignancies with high mutation rates such as lung carcinoma have therefore statistically a higher chance of being under immunological attack than malignancies with few mutations. The clinical relevance of these immune responses seemed small as little antitumoral ...
Development of a non-invasive test to predict immunotherapy response in lung cancer patients Ghent University
An increasing number of lung cancer patients undergoes treatment with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs), hence, only 20 to 45% of patients will respond. Nevertheless, existing predictive biomarkers cannot accurately separate non-responders from responders and require invasive tumor tissue sampling. Lately, evidence accumulates that tumor regressions under ICIs are reflected by changes in specific immune cells in peripheral blood. We aim to ...