Geneticist Lude Franke is involved in Oncode Institute on behalf of the UMCG. For the past five years, Oncode Institute has united more than 900 excellent fundamental cancer researchers in the Netherlands. The aim of their joining of forces is to accelerate breakthroughs in cancer research and to translate discoveries from the lab into new treatments for patients faster. The ultimate goal is to help patients survive, improve the quality of life for those affected, and contribute to a more affordable healthcare system. Oncode Institute has now received sufficient funding to continue for the next five years,
very much to the delight of Lude Franke. It will allow him to conduct more detailed research into the genetic cause of cancer in the coming years. Franke: ‘Some gene mutations occur during your lifetime and can cause cancer. Other DNA variations are inherited from your parents and these too can increase the risk of getting cancer. Some of the genes in which these DNA changes occur are now known. Surprisingly, there appears to be relatively little overlap between the genetic risk factors you inherit from your parents and the mutations that develop during life and cause cancer. With the Oncode grant, we can investigate why that is: we suspect that these two groups of genes can be linked via so-called gene networks. With this knowledge, we can link the different DNA changes together like some kind of big road map, and find out whether a particular pathway is frequently used. If that is the case, it may be helpful to start looking at whether medication could target exactly those spots on the road map and therefore potentially be effective in treating cancer.
We hope that in the coming years, we will be able to shed some more light on this, just as we hope that this fundamental knowledge will contribute to the improved care of cancer patients in the longer term.’
Oncode will be funded for the next five years by KWF Cancer Control, together with the ministries of Economic Affairs & Climate, Education Culture & Science, Public Health, and Welfare & Sport, the Netherlands Organisation for Health Research and Development (ZonMw), and Health~Holland.
