The five Publication Prizes 2024 from Else Kröner-Fresenius-Stiftung are going to:
Prof. Dr. Frederik Damm, Dept. of Medicine, specializing in Hematology, Oncology and Tumor Immunology, Charité – University Hospital Berlin, Paper: https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.23.01053
Prof. Dr. Damm has achieved decisive advances in hematology by making use of molecular techniques such as next-generation sequencing (NGS). With NGS, a DNA or RNA sequence can be determined quickly and cost-effectively. In his paper published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology bearing the title “Genetic Characterization of Primary Mediastinal B-Cell Lymphoma: Pathogenesis and Patient Outcomes,” Damm showed how more precise diagnoses and personalized treatment approaches for primary mediastinal B-cell lymphoma (PMBCL) are possible using NGS. PMBCL is a rare, aggressive form of lymph node cancer that predominantly affects young women. The disease makes itself conspicuous due to the rapid increase of cancerous cells in the central region of the thorax, and is therefore particularly threatening. Especially prizeworthy is that Damm’s team identified genetic markers via genomic characterization, for instance specific genetic mutations. This enabled the research scientists to carry out accurate risk stratifications – in other words, to divide the patients up into groups in order to gauge the risk of certain progressions of the disease or the risk of complications. Personalized treatment approaches build on the diagnoses displaying greater precision which, in turn, help to improve the prospects for the lives of patients with PMBCL.
PD Dr. Florian Scherer, Dept. of Medicine I, specializing in Hematology, Oncology and Stem-Cell Transplantation, University Medical Center Freiburg, Paper: https://doi.org/10.1200/JCO.22.00826
Advances in diagnostics are also reflected in the work by PD Dr. Florian Scherer. His prizeworthy publication published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology is entitled “Circulating Tumor DNA Profiling for Detection, Risk Stratification, and Classification of Brain Lymphomas.” It demonstrates how so-called liquid biopsy technology can be deployed for the diagnosis and monitoring of lymphomas of the central nervous system (CNS). The liquid biopsy makes it possible to detect cancerous cells and genetic alterations using samples of the blood or cerebrospinal fluid. This considerably improves the accuracy and speed of a given cancer diagnosis: physicians can make decisions affecting treatment faster and in a more targeted manner, factors which boost the patients’ prospects and the quality of their lives. Scherer’s study shows that circulating tumor DNA (ctDNA) can be used as a non-invasive biomarker for cancerous diseases within the CNS. With most patients, the presence of ctDNA in the blood and in cerebrospinal fluid is verifiable prior to treatment. Patients showing higher levels of ctDNA had poorer survival rates, which underscores the significance of this technology for the precise assessment of the disease’s progression and for adapting the therapy. Apart from this, Scherer’s team developed a model that is able to reliably identify CNS lymphomas on the basis of the ctDNA mutational signature by means of artificial intelligence.
Dr. Ria Schönauer, Dept. of Medicine, specializing in Nephrology and Medical Intensive Care (Internal), Charité – University Hospital Berlin, Paper: https://doi.org/10.1053/j.gastro.2023.12.007
The work performed by Dr. Ria Schönauer bridges the gap between diagnosis and therapy. Her publication “Sex, Genotype, and Liver Volume Progression as Risk of Hospitalization Determinants in Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Liver Disease,” which appeared in the specialized journal Gastroenterology and has now been awarded a prize by EKFS, shows how targeted therapies can be developed for polycystic liver disease (ADPLD). ADPLD is a rare hereditary disorder in which the liver becomes permeated with cysts. This can lead to medical conditions such as a sense of fullness, nausea, upper abdominal pain and muscular atrophy. In severe cases, a liver transplantation may be necessary. Within the scope of an international study Schönauer has developed assessment criteria in her workgroup to be better able to predict the prognosis for this disease and make substantiated decisions regarding the treatment thereof. The research scientists designate factors that influence the probability of being admitted to a hospital. They include the female gender, age-related liver volume and specific genetic changes. Schönauer’s findings enable a better assessment of the disease’s progress along with the development of personalized therapies which slow down the way the disease advances and improve the quality of life for those affected.
Dr. Dr. Lukas Bunse, Neurological Department, UMM University Medical Centre Mannheim, Paper: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ccell.2022.12.007
As is the case with the work done by PD Dr. Scherer, genetic analyses in the area of personalized medicine play an essential role for Dr. Dr. Lukas Bunse, too. Bunse is receiving the Publication Prize for his scientific paper “MHC class II-restricted antigen presentation is required to prevent dysfunction of cytotoxic T cells by blood-borne myeloids in brain tumors,” published in the specialized journal Cancer Cell. In the paper he shows how so-called macrophages, scavenger cells migrating out of the bloodstream, are able to combat brain tumors. Bunse’s team established that the immune system plays a key role during the emergence and treatment of brain tumors. And that microphage activity is particularly important: they present fragments of tumor cells to T cells, a type of white blood cell equally migrating out of the bloodstream, and by doing so activate the T cells to combat tumor cells. Especially cytotoxic T cells, also termed killer T cells, are reliant on this kind of local activation. A specific protein named MHCII is decisive thereby: without MHCII the killer T cells lose their ability to take action against tumors. The team around Bunse has also decoded the way in which MHCII supports the killer T cells. On the basis of this finding, Bunse’s prizewinning publication now opens up new approaches to immunotherapies that support and sustain T cell activity in brain tumors.
PD Dr. Roman Sankowski, Institute for Neuropathology, University Medical Center Freiburg, Paper: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41591-023-02673-1
Yet another breakthrough in neurology stems from PD Dr. Roman Sankowski. Brain tumors form the core focus of his publication “Multiomic spatial landscape of innate immune cells at human central nervous system borders.” Sankowski equally found the key to new therapeutic approaches within the immune system. In his paper published in the journal nature medicine he demonstrates how the immune system is involved in the pathology of this disease. And while doing so, his finding that immune cells in the brain can be regenerated by means of blood cells is nothing less than remarkable. The assumption until now was that they regenerate themselves. Sankowski’s discovery opens up new possibilities to replace damaged or defective immune cells with healthy, functioning cells or to enhance their function. Particularly patients with brain tumors might benefit from this. The study honored with the EKFS Publication Prize supplies a detailed map of the different immune cells in healthy brains and in brains afflicted with tumors. The publication furthermore designates molecular targets which can be utilized in future therapies toward the prevention and treatment of brain diseases and disorders.