FOCUS ON BIOMARKERS, TARGETED THERAPY & THE TUMOR MICROENVIRONMENT

We focus on the development of new therapeutic strategies to treat cancer, more specifically on targeted therapy and combination therapies. We study the influence of hypoxia on therapeutic outcome and we put efforts in the identification of biomarkers for personalized medicine.

Therapeutic targets: e.g. CD70, EGFR, p53 and PLK1

Tumor types: e.g. cervix, colon, head & neck, lung and pancreas

Techniques: cell culture, hypoxia cabinet, radiotherapy, Western blot,

immunohistochemistry, immunofluorescence, flow cytometry,

liquid biopsies, PCR-based techniques such as ddPCR

RESEARCH STAFF

Prof. Dr. Filip Lardon, Head Research Laboratory, COREProf. Dr. Evelien Smits, Coordinator Solid Tumor Immunology Group, COREProf. Dr. An Wouters, Coordinator Targeted and Combination Therapy Team, COREProf. Dr. Marc Peeters, Multidisciplinary Oncologic Center Antwerp, UZA & COREProf. Dr. Patrick Pauwels and Prof. Dr. Martin Lammens, Department of Pathology, UZA & COREProf. Dr. Guy Van Camp, Coordinator Oncogenetics Group, CORE & Center of Medical Genetics, UAntwerp & UZAProf. Dr. Steven Van Laere, Dr. Luc Dirix and Dr. Peter Vermeulen, Coordinators Translational Cancer Research Unit, CORE & GZA

Postdocs: Dr. Christophe Deben, Dr. Ken Op de Beeck, Dr. Christel Vangestel, Dr. Gert Van den Eynden

Labtechnicians: Katrien Coen, Christophe Hermans, Hilde Lambrechts, Céline Merlin, Christel Verbrugge

PhD students: Elien Augustus, Hasan Baysal, Matthias Beyens, Nele Boeckx, Gitta Boons, Anja Brouwer, Lieselot Croes, Sven De Bruycker, Bram De Laere, Ines De Pauw, Jorrit De Waele, Tal Flieswasser, Laurie Freire Boullosa, Marieke Hylebos, Julie Jacobs, Elly Marcq, Steffi Oeyen, Pablo Reclusa, Charlotte Rypens, Vaso Siozopoulou, Laure Sorber, Jonas Steenbrugge, Laure-Anne Teuwen, Jonas Van Audenaerde, Christophe Van Berckelaer, Kaat Van Casteren, Pieter-Jan Van Dam, Jolien Van den Bossche, Jinthe Van Loenhout, Timon Vandamme

FOCUS ON IMMUNOTHERAPY FOCUS ON ONCOGENETICS

Central theme: developing novel combination therapies by coupling immune stimulation to inhibition of immune suppression in order to boost antitumor immunity Key words: innate immune cells, immune checkpoints, hypoxia, plasma, stroma, Toll-like receptorsTumor types: colorectal cancer, glioblastoma, lung cancer, melanoma, mesothelioma, pancreatic cancer

The research on breast cancer and metastasis comprises three topics:

(1) Inflammatory breast cancer;

(2) Liquid biopsy: circulating tumor cells (CTCs);

(3) Liver metastases, focusing on growth patterns

Techniques: CellSearch for CTC detection, DEParray for single cell isolation, whole genome amplification, next-generation sequencing, PCR-based techniques, cell culture, flow cytometry, xCELLigence

The research on oncogenetics focuses on the identification of genetic susceptibility factors contributing to tumor initiation. A common central theme is the study and identification of biomarkers leading to therapeutic resistance.

Techniques: cell culture, next generation sequencing, real time PCR, Western blot, methylation analysis, microarray technology, ...

Seimetz, J Cancer 2011

The Center for Oncological Research (CORE) is a joint oncology research platform of the University of Antwerp, gathering research lines and experts in the field of basic, translational and clinical cancer research. The CORE lab is operational on three sites: the Antwerp University Campus Drie Eiken, Wilrijk; the Antwerp University Hospital, Edegem; and the GZA Hospital Sint-Augustinus, Wilrijk.

University of Antwerp – Faculty of Medicine and Health SciencesCampus Drie Eiken, T4 – Universiteitsplein 1, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium

Contact: evelien.smits@uantwerp.be

CCenter for Oncological Research (CORE) Antwerp

FOCUS ON BREAST CANCER AND METASTASISMarcq et al, Cancer Treatment Reviews 2015

Contact: evelien.smits@uantwerp.be