Clinical Translation Programs
Strategic Core of FCI

Multidisciplinary teams consisting of clinicians, tumor biologists, biochemists, chemists and bioinformaticians work together in these interdisciplinary research projects. The teams rely on the technology platforms provided by the five research areas.

R1
Molecular Diagnostic and Biomarker

The goal of Research Area 1 is to find individual parameters that can improve the diagnosis of tumors or better predict the response to therapy. For example, the composition of all proteins in a cell can be qualitatively and quantitatively analyzed by means of mass spectrometry.

R2
Molecular Mechanisms of Tumor Pathogenesis

Elucidating the underlying causes of the individually different treatment responses in order to develop new therapeutic or diagnostic concepts based on the findings, is a fundamental goal of Research Area 2. To achieve this goal, it is essential to understand the molecular mechanisms that drive tumor development and progression. Research Area 2 combines the expertise in structural biology, biochemistry and cell biology within the FCI to analyze the tumorigenesis, the response to therapy and resistance mechanisms systematically and functionally in the overall cellular context at the molecular level. In line with the interdisciplinarity of the FCI, the molecular-pathophysiological mechanisms that underlie the clinical observations are elaborated on the basis of individual tumor samples.

R3
Preclinical Models

This area is the essential link transferring new therapeutic strategies to the clinic. Far too often, promising substances fail in later clinical development. The lack of meaningful preclinical models is an important reason for this low success rate. The aim of Research Area 3 is therefore to develop new models enhancing the clinical success of a drug identified in basic research by better predicting the response in patients.

R4
Drug Development and Novel Therapeutic Approaches

The goal of Research Area 4 is to develop new therapeutic approaches and to advance them to the development of new drugs. The extensive chemical, pharmaceutical and structural biology expertise at the Goethe University in Frankfurt enables the development and optimization of new drug candidates against validated target structures. At the Georg-Speyer-Haus and at the Paul Ehrlich Institute, innovative "biologicals" and cell therapeutics are being developed for which there are certified production areas at the Institute of Transfusion Medicine.

R5
Clinical Trials

The integration of clinical trials into FCI is essential both as an end point of drug development and as a starting point for research on response and resistance mechanisms. The aim is to initiate such studies in close cooperation with the University Cancer Center (UCT). UCT Frankfurt has been continuously working on the development of a comprehensive clinical research unit, which will be fully available to the FCI. The practical implementation of early translational studies at the FCI site is guaranteed.

Discovery & Development

The primary objective of this program is to address excellent hypotheses on basic biological mechanisms of tumorigenesis, progression, diagnosis, and therapy.