Vermeulen Lab

Research focus

ERC Consolidator Grant · 2021

Poor Prognosis Colorectal Cancers Display Self-sustained Growth by Niche-mimicry

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a heterogeneous disease with widely variable clinical outcomes. I previously contributed to a unifying molecular classification of CRC, the consensus molecular subtypes (CMSs). The mesenchymal subtype (CMS4), representing ~25% of all CRC patients, is characterised by early metastatic dissemination and poor response to therapy. This is often attributed to activated and rich stroma and therefore much attention in the field goes to dissecting the interaction of the mesenchyme with the cancer cells in these tumours. However, in this research program I will investigate a radically different hypothesis: Mesenchymal CRCs display self-sustained growth by niche-mimicry…

From the public funding record at EU CORDIS. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.