Digital Stratification of BAP1-mutant Cancers (BAP-1)

Development of Digital Biomarkers for BAP1 Mutated Cancers (German Cancer Aid)

The project centers around BAP1, a tumor suppressor gene often mutated in aggressive cancers. Specifically, BAP1 mutations lead to increased SRC levels, a non-receptor tyrosine kinase, resulting in inhibited autophagy and heightened tumor aggressiveness. The goal of this project is to understand and target the BAP1-SRC-Beclin 1 axis for potential therapies in BAP1 mutant cancers. To achieve this, a collaborative consortium has been formed with subprojects focusing on providing necessary materials, analyzing the SRC-autophagy interplay, generating patient-derived organoids, and conducting biomarker analyses on large human tissue cohorts. The overall aim is to validate the proposed mechanism and explore potential treatments, with an emphasis on initiating clinical trials based on the findings. The project integrates diverse approaches, including in vitro, in vivo, ex vivo, and clinical sample analyses, to comprehensively investigate BAP1-mutant cancers and develop personalized medicine strategies. Within this consortium, our group is responsible for digital biomarker development for improved patient stratification.