Research objective
Cancer is a disease of the genes. A limited number of genetic mutations can turn a healthy cell into a tumor cell. Over the past 30 years, researchers have acquired a basic understanding of the tumor cell. A number of cancer-causing genes (oncogenes) have been identified, and some pathways in which these genes act have been uncovered. However, to effectively attack each of the different cancers, a detailed picture of the underlying mechanisms that can turn a normal cell into a cancer cell is needed. This requires large-scale data acquisition and analysis, extensive studies into the correlation of molecular parameters and patient histories, and studies in model systems that permit full exploitation of the power of experimental molecular genetics and genomic analysis.
The primary objective of the CGC research program is to obtain a complete picture of the genetic changes that turn a cell into a tumor cell and a full understanding of how each of these changes contributes to the behavior of tumor cells. This will allow us to devise effective diagnosis and therapy strategies and to define novel and suitable targets for therapeutic intervention.