Characterization of molecular targets for therapy and identification of molecular determinants for the prediction of therapy response in bladder cancer:

In this project, the group is interested in the evaluation of molecular alterations that allow for stratification of patients in potential responder vs non-responder for specific target therapies in bladder cancer. Methods used are CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing, murine xenograft models, molecular and cell biology assays

Improvement of the replication capacity of oncolotyic adenovirus by identification of combination therapies:

In this project, we identify and characterize target therapies that influence the replicative behaviour of an oncolytic adenovirus

Selected publications:

Tong Z, Sathe A, Ebner B, Qi P, Veltkamp C, Gschwend JE, Holm PS, Nawroth R. Functional genomics identifies predictive markers and clinically actionable resistance mechanisms to CDK4/6 inhibition in bladder cancer. J Exp Clin Cancer Res. 2019 Jul 22;38(1):322. doi: 10.1186/s13046-019-1322-9.

Lichtenegger E, Koll F, Haas H, Mantwill K, Janssen KP, Laschinger M, Gschwend J, Steiger K, Black P, Moskalev I, Nawroth R, Holm PS. The oncolytic Adenovirus XVir-N-31 as a novel therapy in muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Hum Gene Ther. 2019 Jan;30(1):44-56. doi:10.1089/hum.2018.026. Epub 2018 Aug 3.

Heck M, Retz M, Bandur M, Souchay M, Vitzthum E, Weirich G, Schuster T, Autenrieth M, Kübler H, Maurer T, Thalgott M, Herkommer K, Gschwend JE and Nawroth R. Molecular lymph node status for prognostic stratification of prostate cancer patients undergoing radical prostatectomy with extended pelvic lymph node dissection. Clin Cancer Res. 2018 Feb 20. pii: clincanres.3771.2017. doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-17-3771. [Epub ahead of print]

Hedegaard J, et al., Comprehensive Transcriptional Analysis of Early-Stage Urothelial Carcinoma. Cancer Cell. 2016 Jun 16. pii: S1535-6108(16)30209-4. doi: 10.1016/j.ccell.2016.05.004.

Heck MM, Thalgott M, Schmid SC, Oh WK, Gong Y, Wang L, Zhu J, Seitz AK, Porst D, Höppner M, Retz M, Gschwend JE, Nawroth R. A 2-gene panel derived from prostate cancer-enhanced transcripts in whole blood is prognostic for survival and predicts treatment benefit in metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Prostate. 2016 May 16. doi: 10.1002/pros.23202.

Sathe A, Koshy N, Schmid SC, Thalgott M, Schwarzenböck SM, Krause BJ, Holm PS, Gschwend JE, Retz M, Nawroth R, CDK4/6-inhibition controls proliferation of bladder cancer and transcription of RB1, The Journal of Urology (2015), doi: 10.1016/j.juro.2015.08.082.