Cancer, Microbiome, Immunotherapy, Precision Oncology
Despite the success of cancer immunotherapies, many patients still die of cancer. A plethora of data indicates that the microbiome critically modulates cancer development, cancer immune responses, therapy responses and thus, ultimately patient outcomes. Our recent efforts in Zürich have enabled us to leverage the microbiome as a biomarker and therapeutic target, as well as to combine high-resolution multi-omics platforms and medical bioinformatics to optimize patient care towards precision oncology.
We anticipate that the microbiome has the potential to revolutionize cancer care by serving as a novel therapeutic target. The overarching goal of our consortium is to unlock the power of the microbiome in oncologic patient care by implementing the following 4 project phases:
Our interventional clinical trials will provide immediate translation into clinical practice, and thus directly benefit cancer patients. Our project connects basic and translational research environments with oncologic patient care and invests in the interdisciplinary combination of computational power, detailed clinical patient characterization, and high-resolution multi-omics data in a clinical setting. Our aim is to unlock the potential of the microbiome as a therapeutic target, overcome existing limitations in cancer therapy, and establish a new therapeutic concept to foster precision oncology.
Fig: The Cancer-MicroBiome project work packages to identify Super-Donors for precision medicine
Michael Scharl, Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Hospital Zurich, Rämistrasse 100, 8091 Zurich, michael.scharl@usz.ch
Anne Müller, University of Zurich, Institute of Molecular Cancer Research, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zurich, mueller@imcr.uzh.ch
Mitch Levesque, University of Zurich, University Hospital Zurich, Department of Dermatology, Wagistrasse 18, 8952 Schlieren, mitchell.levesque@usz.ch
Christina Britschgi, University Hospital Zurich, Department of Medical Oncology and Hematology, Rämistrasse 100, 8091 Zürich, christian.britschgi@usz.ch