New DFG-funded research group investigates the impact of liver damage on cancer

The German Research Foundation (DFG) will provide €5.8 million in funding for the collaborative research unit “How Death and Danger Signals Dynamically Control Stage Transitions in Chronic Hepatic Disease – dangerhep.”

The research group involving Heinrich Heine University Düsseldorf (HHU), Düsseldorf University Hospital (UKD), the universities of Tübingen and Stuttgart, and the Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors (IfADo) in Dortmund aims to investigate the impact of chronic liver damage on liver cancer.

The group will be led by Prof. Dr. Tom Lüdde, Director of the Department of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Infectious Diseases at UKD. One of the key objectives of the project is to develop new strategies for the prevention of chronic liver disease progression and liver cancer. To achieve this aim the research group uses two-photon imaging – a high-resolution imaging technique developed at the IfADo. This method makes it possible to visualize liver damage and cell death in living tissue.

Liver cancer is among the most common cancers worldwide. Despite significant therapeutic advances in recent years, a cure remains unattainable for many patients. In most cases, liver cancer develops on the basis of chronic liver damage. The causes of such damage are diverse. Chronic liver disease can be triggered, for example, by a viral infection such as hepatitis, fatty liver disease, or long-term alcohol consumption. So far, it is not possible to reliably predict an individual’s risk of developing cancer in the context of chronic liver disease. Preventive drug treatments aimed at stopping the cancer from developing are also not yet available.

A particular emphasis of the investigations is to determine which pro-inflammatory signaling molecules are released during cell death, which immune cells are activated as a result, and how these processes are linked to cancer over the long term. A better understanding of these mechanisms is expected to enable more targeted monitoring of high-risk patients in the future and to support the development of new preventive therapeutic strategies.

The new research group will receive €5.8 million in funding from the German Research Foundation (DFG) for a four-year period (2026–2029).