Dieter Saur: New DKTK Professor in Munich

The gastroenterologist has been conducting research at the Technical University of Munich since 2001. Most recently he was in charge of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Working Group at Klinik und Poliklinik für Innere Medizin II, part of Klinikum Rechts der Isar. He specializes in researching genetic networks that lead to the onset of pancreatic, bile duct and colon cancer.

“In concrete terms, we are investigating which genes are involved in metastasis and resistance development in gastrointestinal tumors,” Saur explains. “In this way we hope to be able to identify new target structures that drugs can act on. In addition, we are researching to what extent tumors in different organs are also genetically different.”

One of the methods the scientists use for this is molecular endoscopy, a technique that is also known as an “optical biopsy” because images of the tissue are produced during the examination that can be analyzed at molecular level.

Saur has been involved in the DKTK consortium since 2013 as the Principal Investigator for two programs: “Preclinical models” and “Molecular mechanisms of tumor development”.