ERC Advanced Grant · 2019
Imaging, characterizing and targeting metastatic niches in melanoma
Melanomas are the only tumors where lesions barely over one millimeter in depth can be at risk for metastasis. An increasing number of (epi)genetic alterations and mechanisms of immune evasion have been identified in this disease. Nevertheless, no molecular biomarker has been approved as a bona fide prognostic indicator. Progress in this field has been hampered by the paucity of models to visualize premetastatic niches in vivo, and monitor relapse after surgery. We have overcome these limitations by generating reporter mouse strains to “illuminate” premetastatic niches. Specifically, our “MetAlert” mice were designed for whole-body imaging of the aberrant expansion of the lymphatic…
From the public funding record at EU CORDIS. Describes the funded project, not the reviews below.