Passionate medical oncologist with experimental + public health agenda heading the Dpt. of General Medical Oncology + Lab. of Exp. Oncology at UZ/KU Leuven (BE)
My lab is hiring talented and motivated individuals at all levels of training. Our mission is to understand how epigenetic dysregulation drives sarcoma development and plasticity and to translate these insights into new therapies. Please apply at the following links.
Nuclear grading of myxoid liposarcoma demonstrates superior prognostic performance over conventional grading, which is traditionally based on the proportion of the round cell component. Read Marcelis L … Folpe AL doi.org/10.1007/s00428-026-0…
In 1986 José Maria Fernández Sousa-Faro founded PharmaMar with the objetive of developing anticancer drugs from marine resources. Trabectedin turned out to be a practice-changing drug for patients with lipo-, leiomyo- and translocation-related sarcomas. Congratulations PharmaMar!
Two novel synthetic ecteinascidins, ecubectedin and PM54, show impressive anti-tumor effects in leiomyo-, dediff. lipo-, synovial and CIC-rearranged sarcoma. Read doi.org/10.1158/2767-9764.CR…
Artificial intelligence in drug discovery - hype or hope? Read the insightful and very informative review article by A. Bender and colleagues in Nat Rev Drug Discov 2026, doi.org/10.1038/s41573-026-0…
Development of CAR T therapy and first-in-human individual participant trial for patients with alveolar soft part sarcoma and other MiT/TFE-driven diseases. Spectacular academic initiative - congratulation to F. Zemp and D. Mahoney and their teams. DOI: 10.1038/s43018-026-01194-3
GIST with non-D842V PDGFRa mutations have a predicted 86.4 % chance to respond to good old imatinib. Not all exon 18 mutations are the same, not every patient requires toxic avapritinib. Read the comprehensive analysis by H.M. Khosroyani and M.C. Heinrich doi.org/10.1158/2767-9764.CR…
These results are nicely reflected by differences in the EMA vs. FDA label for avapritinib: EMA recommends the use in tumors carrying the imatinib-resistant D842V mutation, while FDA approved the drug for PDGFRa mutations in exon 18, including D842V. Which label do you prefer?
Brightline-1 assessed the MDM2 antagonist brigimadlin vs doxorubicin in dedifferentiated liposarcoma in 1st line. mPFS 8.4 vs 7.2 mo, ORR 22.3 vs 8.6% (brigi vs doxo). PFS (doxo) was longer than anticipated, the primary endpoint was not met.
doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-26-0509
Liposarcoma in the holy grail of oncology - the Plenary Session at the ASCO Annual Meeting 2026. Congratulations to Mark A. Dickson and all SARC041 investigators!
Basket trial of the EZH2 inhibitor tazemetostat demonstrated preliminary antitumor activity with responses in rhabdoid tumors, INI1-negative tumors and poorly differentiated chordomas. No responses seen in synovial sarcoma and renal medullary carcinoma. nature.com/articles/s41467-0…
The EZH2 inhibitor tazemetostat has been withdrawn by the manufacturer from all markets for epithelioid sarcoma and follicular lymphoma due to the occurrence of hematologic malignancies in ongoing lymphoma trials. See ipsen.com/press-release/ipse…
Lore De Cock, PhD, has been awarded a VHIO International Postdoctoral Programme for Translational Research fellowship, will join César Serrano’s lab in October 2026. Congratulations! FORTRESS is connecting people and the promotor/co-promotor of your thesis are proud of you…