Millions in funding for LMU research into pancreatic cancer

Despite intensive research, pancreatic cancer remains one of the deadliest forms of cancer. Although only around four percent of all new cancer cases affect the pancreas, this type of tumor is the fourth leading cause of cancer deaths in Germany.
As part of the "German Pancreatic Cancer Alliance" funding initiative, German Cancer Aid is providing a total of €40 million in funding for large-scale projects aimed at fundamentally improving treatment options and the prognosis for patients with pancreatic cancer.

At the heart of the alliance are three research consortia based at a total of 23 university locations in Germany and three universities each in the US and the Netherlands. Together, they are working to better understand pancreatic cancer at the molecular level and to develop new, personalized treatment concepts.

Professor Julia Mayerle, Director of Medical Clinic II, and Professor Sebastian Kobold, Director of the Institute for Clinical Pharmacology at LMU Hospital, are participating in the TUM-led consortium "Decoding and Therapeutic Targeting of the PDAC Ecosystem (DEFEAT-PDAC)" and will each receive €800,000 for their respective projects.

Individualized immunotherapies for pancreatic cancer

In Sebastian Kobold's subproject, researchers are working on the preclinical development of new cell and immunotherapies for pancreatic cancer. “Pancreatic cancer is a very aggressive form of cancer with few treatment options,” explains the immunologist. “Immunotherapies in particular have become significantly more important in cancer treatment in recent years, but they play no role in pancreatic cancer.”

The high heterogeneity of the disease at the molecular and immunological level is significant in this context. This is where the LMU research group wants to start. In the coming years, new modular immunotherapeutic concepts are to be developed that take particular account of the diversity of pancreatic cancer. “The unique critical mass of DEFEAT-PDAC will be crucial in modeling, analyzing, and understanding the diversity of pancreatic cancer biology,” says Kobold. “This will enable us to develop tailored immunotherapies for the first time.”

Modulating the metabolism of cancer cells in a targeted manner

Julia Mayerle is also investigating new therapeutic approaches for pancreatic cancer in her subproject, together with TUM professor Roland Rad. “Successes in the treatment of pancreatic cancer have recently been achieved through combination therapies,” explains the LMU physician. Her working group is investigating the role of complex lipids in the development of pancreatic carcinoma—and how the associated metabolic processes can be specifically exploited to combat tumors. Signaling pathways that influence lipid metabolism are often used therapeutically in medicine. Signal transmission across the cell membrane depends heavily on its composition and fluidity.

“The structure of the cell membrane is particularly relevant for tumor cells and the immune system,” says Mayerle. The aim of the project is to characterize the lipid composition of cancer cell membranes and develop synergistic therapeutic approaches for pancreatic cancer that combat the tumor with specific agents that influence the cell cycle and lipid metabolism.