CCE Lecture: From Stem Cells in Leukemia to Neurons in Pancreatic Cancer
Welcome to the next Cancer Core Europe (CCE) Lecture, hosted by NCT Heidelberg / DKFZ.
From Stem Cells in Leukemia to Neurons in Pancreatic Cancer
Andreas Trumpp, Head of Division «Stem Cells and Cancer» at DKFZ and Managing Director of Heidelberg Institute for Stem Cell Technology and Experimental Medicine (HI-STEM gGmbH), Heidelberg, Germany
Monday, June 24, 2024 ‒ Time: 11 – 12 am CEST
Zoom link: https://dkfz-de.zoom-x.de/j/69020086919
Abstract
Single mutations in Hematopoietic Stem Cells (HSCs) can lead to clonal hematopoiesis (CH), which becomes increasingly prevalent with age. CH is linked to a higher risk of cardiovascular disease and the development of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) stem cells (LSCs) driving this aggressive disease.
The Trumpp team has developed MAC-scoring, the first reliable predictive biomarker measurement for AML patients treated with the BCL-2 inhibitor Venetoclax (VEN). MAC-scoring is based on the intracellular expression levels of BCL-2, BCL-xL, and MCL-1 in LSCs, enabling the rapid and cost effective prediction of individual AML patients’ response to VEN. (Waclawiczek et al., Cancer Discovery, 2023). VEN/HMA has revolutionized the treatment of this aggressive disease, and new insights into therapy response and resistance mechanisms will be presented.
In the second part, a new in vivo retrograde tracing technology called TRACE-N-Seq will be presented to study pancreatic cancer (PDAC) innervating neurons at single-cell resolution. The resulting data sets reveal the reprogramming of neurons by PDAC cells. This offers new therapeutic strategies by combining denervation techniques with clinically used drugs (chemotherapy or immunotherapies) to more effectively target pancreatic cancer, which will be presented and discussed in the lecture.
Join us!
