Genomic studies have identified new mechanisms that underlie the development of cancer and revealed targets for novel therapies. Together with transcriptomic and epigenetic analyses, cancer entities are nowadays classified by their molecular features. In addition to the mutated cancer cells, other cellular compartments of solid tumors, including cancer associated fibroblasts and immune cells influence the clinical behavior of cancer patients.
Our lab uses next generation sequencing approaches to characterize cancer on the genomic, transcriptomic and epigenetic level. Using integrative analyses, we try to find molecular patterns that correlate with and potentially explain the different clinical categories of patients. By applying single cell sequencing approaches, we aim at identifying pathways that are altered in the different compartments of the tumor, including the stroma, that provide potential new targets for intervention.