Therapy research

Ligand traps in the treatment of pancreatic cancer.


Contact:  Dr. Uwe Wittel - Div. of General and Visceral Surgery - University of Freiburg Medical Centre
Tel: +49- (0)761/270-2401
E-mail: uwe.wittel@uniklinik-freiburg.de

Project description:

Even today, the treatment of pancreatic carcinoma still remains a challenge because of the bad prognosis of this disease. Amongst the reasons for this is the large number of cell-growth stimulation mediators. These mediators, e.g. EGF, are sometimes synthesized and released by the tumour cells themselves. Against the backdrop of a successful EGF-receptor antibody therapy, our approach is to target the EGF signal cascade by neutralizing the ligands with the aid of EGFR receptor fragments. To this end, we synthesize fragments of the extra-cellular portion of the EGF receptor in yeast and investigate its effect on tumour growth in vitro and in vivo.