Research Activities

The LBMCC mainly focuses on basic and applied research linking inflammation, cancer and leukemia. This involves, among other things, a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms behind the development of resistance to chemotherapeutic agents, the underlying mechanisms of inflammation signaling, and the important hunt for novel therapeutic approaches based on compounds of natural origin. The natural products are screened and their effect on these mechanisms is examined.

Another group focuses on differentiation therapy. This approach is based on the concept that cancer cells are more immature (or less differentiated). These cells normally show a higher proliferation rate compared to their healthy counterparts. Differentiation therapy thus aims to return these cells to a more mature, less proliferative differentiation state. Such an approach may help to slow down cancer progression and additionally make cancer cells more sensitive to cancer chemotherapeutics.

A further research group performs epigenetic research in order to understand the underlying mechanisms involved in—and potentially find new biomarkers for—early cancer detection. They also screen various natural products to see which can modulate epigenetic modifications for cancer prevention, and how.