Forscherdatenbank
Prof. Dr. Gabriele Multhoff
Ismaninger Straße 22
81675 München
Programme
Radiation Oncology and Imaging (ROI)
Cancer Immunotherapy (CI)
Übersicht
One of the focus areas of Prof. Gabriele Multhoff’s research work is the development of innovative cell-, molecule- and antibody-based targeted immunotherapies based on heat shock proteins (SFB 824: in vivo imaging). The aim is to combine these new therapeutic approaches with conventional radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Her current research work has led to a randomized, multicenter clinical phase II study entitled “Targeted NK cell-based adjuvant immunotherapy for the treatment of patients with non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) after radiochemotherapy” funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF). To stratify patients who most likely will benefit from Hsp70-targeting therapies, her group established a novel screening test (lipHsp70 ELISA, patent) to quantify liposomal, tumor-derived Hsp70 and a method to isolate circulating tumor cells (CTCs) after mesenchymal transition in the blood of patients. Liposomal Hsp70 provides a promising biomarker for viable tumor mass in different tumor entities and CTCs in the blood are presently evaluated as valuable tools for prediction of clinical responses and therapy resistance of cancer.
Prof. Multhoff’s research interests also include the application of novel in vivo imaging techniques such as intraoperative, fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT), multispectral optoacoustic tomography (MSOT) and PET/CT in small animals after CT-guided irradiation of tumors using the small animal radiation research platform SARRP (DFG INST411/37-1 FUGG) and the analysis of cellular, molecular biological and immunological mechanisms in tumor and normal cells including primary endothelial cells after exposure to radiation, as well as the development of innovative nanoparticle-based theranostica.
DKTK Junior Group Leader for Cancer Systems Biology
Single-cell approaches have not only revealed a wide variety of cell states, characterized by cells exhibiting striking differences in their transcriptional profile, but have also illuminated the mechanisms underlying state transitions in health and disease. Cellular plasticity and adaptive state changes have recently emerged as a basis for therapeutic resistance in cancer, and a better understanding of how cell state transitions are regulated is critical to develop therapeutic approaches that can overcome therapy resistance.
Our research focuses on understanding the mechanisms driving non-genetic cellular heterogeneity and therapy resistance in malignancy. Using novel single-cell sequencing approaches, we seek to develop new experimental and computational strategies to define altered cell states in both, cancer and immune cells. Our aim is to leverage a data driven strategy combined with single cell genomics and systems biology to address the challenges posed by heterogeneity in cancer, and to develop new strategies to overcome it, with the aim of translating laboratory-based findings into the clinic.