Oncology

Janssen, Klaus-Peter

Molecular Tumor Biology. Tumor Immunology

Colorectal tumors are the central focus our research, ranking amongst the most frequent tumors in Europe and North America. The initiation and progression of cancer involves multiple steps of genetic and epigenetic alterations, including the loss of function of tumor suppressor genes, and the activation of oncogenes. Our clinical research group tries to understand how the altered signal transduction cascades, like the WNT- and the Ras/MAPK-pathways, contribute to tumor progression and metastasis formation. In addition to these cell-autonomous changes, we are interested in the interactions of cancer cells with the immune system, which may be beneficial or even detrimental for the patient. Genetically defined mouse models have the potential to recapitulate human cancer development, and they allow to address the fundamental question how different genes and signalling pathways cooperate to achieve the goal of malignant transformation. The generation and screening of the preclinical murine models is completed by the analysis of human patient samples, e.g., in the form of primary tumor cell cultures.

Selected publications:

Holtorf A (...) KP Janssen. Cell-type specific MyD88 signaling is required for intestinal tumor initiation and progression to malignancy. OncoImmunology (2018) https://doi.org/10.1080/2162402X.2018.1466770

Lobner EM (...) KP Janssen, D Haller. Aberrant ATF6 expression links TRIF-mediated STAT3 activation to colorectal cancer in the context of microbial dysbiosis. Gastroenterology (2018). pii: S0016-5085(18)34816-9. doi: 10.1053/j.gastro.2018.07.028.

Cremonesi E (...) Janssen KP, Borsig L, Iezzi G. Gut microbiota modulate T cell trafficking into human colorectal cancer. Gut (2018) Feb 6. pii: gutjnl-2016-313498. doi: 10.1136/gutjnl-2016-313498.

Raphael BJ (…) Janssen KP (...) Zenklusen JC. Integrated Genomic Characterization of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma. Cancer Cell 2017;32:185-203 e13.

Kistner L (...) Janssen KP. Interferon-inducible CXC-chemokines are crucial immune modulators and survival predictors in colorectal cancer. Oncotarget 2017;8:89998-90012.

Geyer PE (...) Janssen KP. Gastric Adenocarcinomas Express the Glycosphingolipid Gb3/CD77: Targeting of Gastric Cancer Cells with Shiga Toxin B-Subunit. Mol Cancer Ther 2016;15:1008-17.

Buchert M, Rohde F (...) Janssen KP. A hypermorphic epithelial beta-catenin mutation facilitates intestinal tumorigenesis in mice in response to compounding WNT-pathway mutations. Dis Model Mech 2015;8:1361-73.

Zeestraten EC (...) Janssen KP. Specific activity of cyclin-dependent kinase I is a new potential predictor of tumour recurrence in stage II colon cancer. Br J Cancer 2012;106:133-40.

Nitsche U (...) Janssen KP. Integrative marker analysis allows risk assessment for metastasis in stage II colon cancer. Ann Surg 2012;256:763-71; discussion 771.

Janssen KP (...) Robine S. APC and oncogenic KRAS are synergistic in enhancing Wnt signaling in intestinal tumor formation and progression. Gastroenterology 2006;131:1096-109.

https://www.chir.med.tum.de/darmzentrum/forschung