Press Releases
Nobel laureate Harald zur Hausen has passed away
Harald zur Hausen
© Uwe Anspach / DKFZ
The German Cancer Research Center mourns the death of Harald zur Hausen. The Nobel Laureate in Medicine and longtime Chairman of the DKFZ Board of Directors died last Monday, May 29, at the age of 87. "The news of Harald zur Hausen's death saddens all of us at DKFZ. Our thoughts are with his family. With him, we lose an outstanding scientist who made groundbreaking achievements in the field of tumor virology," said Michael Baumann, Chairman of the Board and Scientific Director of DKFZ.
Epigenetic profiling identifies potential COPD treatment targets
© Christoph Bock, Max Planck Institute for Informatics / Wikipedia
Impaired function of lung fibroblast is considered causative for symptoms of the incurable lung disease COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease). Using high-resolution epigenetic profiling, German and British scientists have now identified potential targets for COPD treatment. The team detected early epigenetic changes in the genome of COPD fibroblasts, providing new insights into the disease pathogenesis and potential therapeutic avenues.
B cells promote liver cancer with dangerous dual strategy
© Adobe Stock
Inflammatory fatty liver disease (NASH, non alcoholic steatohepatitis ) and the resulting liver cancer are driven by autoaggressive T cells. Scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) now show what ist behind this destructive behavior. In both mice and humans with NASH, they found increased numbers of activated B cells in the gastrointestinal tract. The B cells promote the development of liver cancer with a dual strategy: via direct cell-cell contact, they activate autoaggressive T cells. In addition, the B cells produce IgA class antibodies that activate specific immune cells, thereby driving liver fibrosis. When the B cells are turned off, inflammation and fibrosis regress in mice and fewer and smaller liver tumors develop.
Fewer new cancer cases reported in Baden-Württemberg in 2021 than before pandemic
© Fotolia
For the second year in a row, fewer people were diagnosed with cancer in Baden-Württemberg than before the Corona pandemic: for 2021, the Baden-Württemberg Cancer Registry determined a lower rate of new cases than in 2019 by eight (women) and twelve percent (men). What seemingly sounds like good news actually makes it clear that the pandemic had an even greater impact on recorded cancer incidence in 2021 than in the previous year.
Reduced cancer mortality with daily vitamin D intake
© Adobe Stock
Vitamin D intake could reduce cancer mortality in the population by twelve percent - provided the vitamin is taken daily. This was the result of an evaluation of 14 studies of the highest quality conducted at the German Cancer Research Center with a total of almost 105,000 participants.
"G7 Cancer": Seven leading organizations strengthen their coordination to accelerate progress against cancer worldwide
The representatives of G7 Cancer: Claudia Mayer, Catherine Elliott, Hitoshi...
© DKFZ
At the initiative of the French National Cancer Institute, as part of the ten-year cancer control strategy, G7 Cancer officially launched on May 9. Bringing together the organizations at the forefront of the fight against cancer, this group aims to strengthen cooperation between partners to accelerate the fight against the disease, and in particular to address the most complex challenges. At the first meeting, which was held at May 9, the organizations' representatives signed a Memorandum of Understanding to set the cooperation framework.
The G7 partner organizations are: Cancer Australia; Canadian Institute of Health Research; National Cancer Institute, France; German Cancer Research Center; National Cancer Center, Japan; Cancer Research UK; US Department of Health and Human Services, National Cancer Institute
Obesity as a risk factor for colorectal cancer underestimated so far - Weight loss before diagnosis obscures correlations
© Bill Branson, National Cancer Institute, Wikipedia
Obesity is a known risk factor for colorectal cancer. Scientists at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) have now shown that this association has probably been significantly underestimated so far. The reason: many people unintentionally lose weight in the years before a colorectal cancer diagnosis. If studies only consider body weight at the time of diagnosis, this obscures the actual relationship between obesity and colorectal cancer risk. In addition, the current study shows that unintentional weight loss may be an early indicator of colorectal cancer.
Age to initiate breast cancer screening should be adjusted for ethnicity
© Adobe Stock
At age 42, black U.S. women already reach the same risk threshold of dying from breast cancer that the average of all U.S. women does not reach until age 50. Asian and Pacific Islander American women do not reach this threshold until eleven years later, at age 61. This was calculated by scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and the National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT) in Heidelberg. Their aim was to provide evidence-based recommendations for risk-adapted early breast cancer detection - so that all women can benefit equally from screening, regardless of their ethnic origin.
Honorary doctorate from Heidelberg University for Webster K. Cavenee
Hans-Georg Kräusslich (l.), Dean of the Heidelberg Medical Faculty, and Ber...
© Uwe Anspach/DKFZ
The Medical Faculty of Heidelberg University awarded an honorary doctorate to Webster K. Cavenee, the long-time chairman of the International Scientific Committee of the German Cancer Research Center, on April 21. Cavenee, a cell biologist and geneticist, is thus being honored for his outstanding achievements in cancer research - and equally for his many years of commitment to research institutions in Heidelberg, especially the German Cancer Research Center.
New agents activate immune cells against cancer
Scientists from the DKFZ and from Bayer working bench-to-bench.
© dkfz.de
Two promising agents from the DKFZ-Bayer Research Alliance will be presented to an expert audience at this year's AACR Congress in Orlando. Both agents are designed to activate suppressed immune cells and thus support the immune defense against cancer. The annual congress of the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) is considered the world's most important meeting for cancer research.
