Klinik für Allgemein- und Viszeralchirurgie

What we do

The intestinal microbiome is an important constituent of the colorectal tumor microenvironment (TME) and plays a pivotal role in inflammation, CRC development and therapy response. Although metastasis formation represents the main clinical challenge of colorectal cancer (CRC), relatively few data exist on the initiation and progression of disseminating tumor cells since most research on new tumor therapies focuses on the primary tumor. However, it is critical to understand CRC metastasis formation in depth to develop metastasis-adapted therapeutic strategies.

The focus of our group is the role of the metastasis-associated microbiome within the TME in murine CRC models and patient cohorts. Our objective is to uncover the intricate interactions between the cells of the TME, the microbiome and the tumor cells at the metastatic site. By gaining new insights into the establishment of a pro-tumorigenic TME and metastatic microbiome, we aim to identify potential targets for therapeutic interventions. Specifically, our focus is on disrupting detrimental interactions between bacteria and tumor cells to interfere with the development of the TME in the liver. These findings will have implications for understanding the retrospective and prospective impact of the metastasis-associated microbiome on prognosis, survival, and therapeutic response. The integration of our CRC-focused approaches with microbiome research positions our work to be highly competitive in the field.