EXC 2180: Image-Guided and Functionally Instructed Tumor Therapies (iFIT)

我们的卓越团队在癌症研究的三个重要领域拥有世界领先的专业知识，这些领域迄今为止在很大程度上是分开的。它们的结合有望使人们对肿瘤生物学的理解达到前所未有的水平，并为肿瘤疾病提供新的诊断和治疗方法。这些领域包括A)通过功能基因组学识别“功能指示分子疗法”，B)它们与先进免疫疗法的结合和进一步发展，以及C)使用多参数成像技术指导肿瘤治疗并揭示新型治疗靶点。iFIT联盟的目标是：-从功能上确定肿瘤中的生物过程，这些过程可用于开发新的癌症治疗方法；-利用功能基因组筛选探索免疫疗法耐药性，开发晚期癌症免疫疗法，特别是组合免疫疗法和与分子靶向疗法的联合；-先进的多参数成像技术，通过使用新方法和生物标志物揭示新型治疗靶点，量化和暂时解决肿瘤维持、进展和治疗反应中的关键分子和免疫过程；-个性化基于功能的分子和免疫疗法，并通过时间和空间分辨率的图像引导开发其组合。<s:1>宾根大学为进行概述的研究提供了理想的环境。由于采取了符合大学长期制度规划的战略决策，iFIT所涉及的研究领域在国际排名中名列前茅。除了招募顶尖科学家外，还建立了独特的科学基础设施。我们的主要研究人员一直在<s:1>宾根-斯图加特综合癌症中心，德国癌症协会，几个合作研究中心赠款（SFBs）和DFG研究单位的范围内密切合作。基于卓越的科学成就和坚实的概念验证数据基础，我们的iFIT集群旨在将<s:1>宾根大学发展成为具有国际知名度和竞争力的下一代图像引导和基于功能的肿瘤治疗中心。我们将战略性地招募年轻的研究人员和教授，他们将定位在我们主要研究领域的界面，使相互关联的研究达到前所未有的水平。因此，iFIT将使基于成像的肿瘤生物学表征和图像引导治疗达到前所未有的水平。从长远来看，iFIT有望开发出新的、可持续的癌症治疗方法，并最终显著改善实体瘤患者的预后。

Our Cluster of Excellence teams world-leading expertise in three important areas of cancer research which have so far been largely separated. Their combination promises an unprece-dented level of understanding of tumor biology and the development of novel diagnostic and therapeutic approaches for tumor diseases. These areas include A) the identification of "functionally instructed molecular therapies" via functional genomics, B) their combination with and further development of advanced immunotherapies and C) the use of multiparametric imaging techniques to guide tumor therapies and to unravel novel classes of therapeutic targets. The iFIT consortium aims to:- functionally identify biological processes in tumors which can be exploited for the development of novel cancer therapies;- explore immunotherapy resistance using functional genomic screening to develop advanced cancer immunotherapies, particularly combinatorial immunotherapies and combinations with molecularly targeted therapies;- advance multiparametric imaging to quantify and temporally resolve key molecular and immunological processes in tumor maintenance, progression and therapy response by using novel methods and biomarkers to unravel novel classes of therapeutic targets;- personalize function-based molecular and immunotherapies and develop combinations there-of through temporally and spatially resolved image guidance.The University of Tübingen provides an ideal environment to conduct the outlined research. As a result of strategic decisions taken in line with the University’s long-term institutional planning, the fields of research involved in iFIT have achieved top positions in international rankings. Besides the recruitment of leading scientists, a unique scientific infrastructure has been established. Our principal investigators have been working closely together within the scope of the Comprehensive Cancer Center Tübingen-Stuttgart, the German Cancer Consortium, several Collaborative Research Center grants (SFBs) and a DFG Research Unit.Building upon scientific excellence and a solid base of proof-of-concept data, our iFIT cluster aims to develop the University of Tübingen into an internationally visible and competitive center for next-generation image-guided and function-based tumor therapies. We will strategically recruit young investigators and professors who will be positioned at the interface of our major research areas, in order to bring interlinked research to an unprecedented level. Thus, iFIT will enable an imaging-based characterization of tumor biology and image-guided therapies to a yet unprecedented level. In the long-term iFIT promises the development of novel and sustainable cancer therapies and, eventually, a significant prognosis improvement for patients with solid tumors.