Research Group VAN RHEENEN

Hubrecht Institute for Developmental Biology and Stem Cell Research
Contact: Dr. Jacco van Rheenen
E-mail: j.vanrheenen@hubrecht.eu
Website: http://www.hubrecht.eu/research/vanrheenen/index.html

General research focus: Cancer biophysics

Complication of metastasis, the process in which cells detach from the primary tumor to form new distant tumor sites, is the primary reason why women die from breast cancer. The metastatic behavior of tumor cells is highly dependent on the cell’s intrinsic characteristics and on the tumor microenvironment, such as stromal cells and the extracellular matrix. We study both by combining conditional mouse models that recapitulate human breast tumors and intravital imaging techniques (high resolution imaging of metastasis in living animals in real time). By these experiments we hope to indentify new drug targets that combined with current clinical approaches may lead to new therapies.

Back