Michael Hallek

This research group is investigating the development of novel therapeutic concepts. One approach to treatment of the future is the use of molecules targeting specific pathways in combination with monoclonal antibodies to interrupt leukemogenic signaling pathways. Combinations of specific therapeutics are applied to specific subgroups of patients in an increasingly personalized way. As a prerequisite, the careful genetic analysis of leukemia cells usually determines treatment, from a watch-and-wait strategy to immediate therapy with either chemoimmunotherapy or the combined use of targeted agents. The goal of our group is clearly to optimize therapy to allow CLL patients to gain a normal life expectancy with a good quality of life.

Prof. Hallek’s laboratory has a long-term interest to study oncogenic signaling events in CLL. More recently, the laboratory has decoded the influence of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) and its putative receptors, CD 74 and CD 44, on leukemic development. MIF appears to have a strong effect on leukemic development: progression is delayed considerably in the absence of MIF, therapy increases survival time of CLL-carrying mice. In clinical trials, the group has shown the impact of B-cell-receptor signaling pathway inhibitors and antibodies to induce clinical remissions of this leukemia.

CLL is at the forefront of research efforts in this present innovative era in cancer medicine that is currently providing many new cancer drugs with promising efficacy. The advent of several, targeted therapies for CLL and the availability of novel analytical tools such as next generation sequencing has provided major ingredients for the creation of targeted anti-leukemic therapies. These advances allow testing of a probabilistic approach, which navigates the cancer patient through molecularly targeted therapies, thus preventing the onset of resistance by using a comprehensive array of cutting-edge technologies. The discoveries made by this approach will be used in a systematic and rapid translation of discoveries into clinical application.

Our specific research aims include:

• Understanding the heterogeneity, clonal evolution and mechanisms resistance of CLL at the cellular and molecular levels.
• Creating a mechanistic understanding of key factors driving the co-evolution of the tumor microenvironment with CLL cells.
• Conducting informed clinical trials for CLL (translation into clinical practice) to prevent clonal evolution towards development of resistance.