Cancer stem cell (CSC) are a small group of cancer cells that have stem-cell like properties such as self-renewal, differentiation potential, heterogeneity and therapeutic resistance. Single cell analysis will be a powerful tool to explore the CSC dynamics of primary and secondary resistant cells of EAC. The crosstalk between CSCs and their niche (tumor microenvironment) not only plays a pivotal role during oncogenesis but also has profound effects on modulating therapeutic efficacy. Therefore, I plan to develop future strategies of combined treatments, that target CSCs and the niche resulting in successful implementation of individualized therapy of GI cancer patients. 

https://viszeral-tumorchirurgie.uk-koeln.de/forschung/molekulare-onkologie/tumorstammzellen/