Swiss Cancer Research funding for Prof. Lukas Sommer
The Swiss Cancer Research Foundation supports research projects of very different orientation and methodology, but with a relevance to cancer. The best quality projects are selected by a scientific commission in a highly competitive process. In this way, the foundation is making an important contribution to making cancer cure the standard.
Prof. Lukas Sommer was selected for funding in the domain of basic research. His project is entitled "The role of tumor-associated glial cells in melanoma progression and therapy response".
New treatments have made melanoma, the most dangerous form of skin cancer, less deadly. However, many patients still do not respond to therapy in the long term because their tumors learn how to resist treatment. Recent research shows that not only cancer cells themselves, but also their surrounding environment, strongly influence how the disease develops. Prof. Sommer and his team have discovered that nerve cells around skin tumors can become active and help cancer grow. Similar nerve cells — and even melanoma cells with nerve-like features — are also found in melanoma tumors. The aim of the newly funded project is to reaveal how these nerve-related cells affect melanoma growth and treatment response, with the aim of opening new paths for better therapies.