Activity Day “Hesse Against Cancer”

Innovative projects funded by Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung involving new therapies for treating cancer
New Therapies for Treating Cancer

Bad Homburg v.d. Höhe, July 7, 2022 – Optimized antibodies for treating lung and prostate cancer? Targeted killer cells for combating brain tumors? “Hesse Against Cancer”, a day devoted to information about cancer and special activities which the foundation Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung (EKFS) financially supports, will take place in Wiesbaden, Germany on Saturday – initiated by the Hessian Cancer Society, the foundation Stiftung Leben mit Krebs (Living with Cancer), and the Hessian Ministry for Social Affairs and Integration.

People affected by cancer, family members and loved ones, as well as anyone interested can obtain information about various topics such as nutrition, psycho-oncology or rehabilitation and aftercare in the case of cancerous diseases. “We are convinced that the spectrum offered by Stiftung Leben mit Krebs helps those affected to orient themselves and find a personal way to deal with the illness,” explains Prof. Dr. Martin Zörnig, EKFS Translational Research Funding. This is why EKFS currently allocates annual funding amounting to roughly EUR 400,000 for projects at Stiftung Leben mit Krebs.

In Germany, each year around half a million people become ill with cancer. “This figure clearly illustrates just how large the need is for scientific progress and effective methods in treat cancerous diseases,” emphasizes Prof. Dr. Zörnig. EKFS funds and supports a wide variety of oncological research projects for this very reason, among them two innovative therapeutic approaches to combat prostate and lung cancer, as well as malignant brain tumors (glioblastomas).

Development of bispecific antibodies to combat malignant prostate and lung cancer cells at Tübingen University Hospital and DKFZ
Development of bispecific antibodies to combat malignant prostate and lung cancer cells at Tübingen University Hospital and DKFZ

Clinical development of the bispecific antibody CC-1 in the case of prostate and lung carcinomas
Bispecific antibodies represent a highly promising option in tumor therapy. As a result of two binding sites they are able to simultaneously bind with cancer cells and defensive cells from the immune system, and then bring them so close together that the defensive immune cells are activated. The immune system is able to attack the cancer cells and destroy them. A team of research scientists from the Tübingen University Hospital and DKFZ, the German Cancer Research Center, has developed a bispecific antibody of this nature termed CC-1, which attacks malignant prostate cancer cells, yet equally combats some types of lung cancer. The team is researching this in several clinical studies. Based on successful preliminary studies, with the support of EKFS a study involving patients in the early stage of a recurring prostate carcinoma illness, the so-called biochemical relapse, can now begin.
You can obtain more detailed information on the research project at:
https://www.medizin.uni-tuebingen.de/en-de/das-klinikum/einrichtungen/kliniken/medizinische-klinik/kke-translationale-immunologie

 

Production of tumor-specific CAR-NK cells in cleanrooms at the DRK Blood Donation Service in Frankfurt.
Production of tumor-specific CAR-NK cells in cleanrooms at the DRK Blood Donation Service in Frankfurt.

Innovative immunotherapy using natural killer (NK) cells in the event of glioblastoma recurrence
The CAR2BRAIN study at the Brain Tumor Center of the University Cancer Center (UCT) within the University Hospital Frankfurt investigates an innovative immunotherapy involving natural killer (NK) cells for patients who suffer a recurrence (relapse) of a glioblastoma – a very aggressive and still incurable brain tumor. The NK cells developed by an interdisciplinary research team a Georg-Speyer-Haus and at the Institute for Transfusion Medicine and Immunohematology in Frankfurt am Main carry a so-called chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) which has been genetically engineered to recognize the tumor-associated antigen HER2 as a target structure, and thereby induce cell death in brain tumor cells. In the ongoing clinical trial, CAR-NK cells are repeatedly injected into the affected brain area during and after relapse surgery by clinical teams at the Clinic for Neurosurgery and at the Dr. Senckenbergisches Institute for Neuro-Oncology. The aim is that remaining tumor cells are attacked, and that the patients’ own immune system is activated against the glioblastoma to prevent further tumor recurrence.
You can obtain more detailed information on the research project at:

 

Information on the "Hesse against Cancer" day of action can be found here: https://hessische-krebsgesellschaft.de/termine/detail/article/krebsinformations-und-aktionstag/

Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung (EKFS) – Advancing research. Helping people.
Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung is a non-profit foundation dedicated to the funding and advancement of medical research and the support of humanitarian projects. To date the foundation has funded around 2,300 projects. With an annual funding volume currently amounting to over 60 million euros it is the largest foundation in Germany that actively funds and supports medicine. You can find more information at: www.ekfs.de/en

Press Contact
Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung
Bianka Jerke
Tel.: + 49 6172 8975-24  I  eMail: b.jerke@ekfs.de