Research Group VAN DIEST

Faculty of Medicine, University Medical Centre Utrecht, Dept. of Pathology
Contact: Prof. dr. Paul van Diest
E-mail: P.J.vanDiest@umcutrecht.nl
Website: http://www.umcutrecht.nl/subsite/Professors/Divisions/Laboratories-and-Pharmacy/van-Diest-PJ.htm

General research focus: Hypoxia in breast cancer development and progression

Tumour hypoxia is one of the hallmarks of solid tumours. Hypoxia is a powerful trigger of angiogenesis and associated with carcinogenesis, tumour progression and resistance to therapy. Cellular hypoxia triggers a broad response that is primarily mediated by the heterodimeric transcription factor hypoxia inducible factor alpha (HIF-1a). Several studies have associated HIF-1 overexpression with human cancer progression. HIF-1 is often overexpressed in colon, breast, gastric, lung, skin, ovarian, pancreatic, prostate and renal carcinomas, and is associated with cell proliferation (Zhong et al., 1999). Immunohistochemical analyses have shown that increased levels of intracellular HIF-1 are associated with breast carcinogenesis (Bos et al., 2001) and poor prognosis in invasive breast cancer (Bos et al.2002). Our fundamental hypoxia research line focuses on novel genes that regulate HIF-1alpha, as well as novel downstream targets of HIF-1alpha. The translational research lines address the clinical relevance of hypoxia associated phenomena in breast carcinogenesis and progression. Further, we develop antibodies to hypoxia related proteins for molecular imaging and therapeutics.

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