Kylian Decroix
Doctoral fellow – Department of Biomolecular Medicine – Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (UGent)
Principal investigators: Prof. Marleen Van Troys (PhD) and Prof. Lindsey Devisscher (PhD)
Research focus
Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the most common primary liver cancer and a leading cause of cancer related death. The majority of HCC patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage, having limited therapeutic options. Although new therapeutic strategies, including immunotherapy, arose for these patients, these still only provide little survival benefit, come with substantial side effects and have rather poor response rates. This urges the need for new effective treatment options.
Deubiquitinases (DUBs) are a large family of druggable enzymes that play a role in protein homeostasis and thereby regulate crucial cellular processes such as proliferation and survival. Hence, it is not surprising that these DUBs also control key oncoproteins involved in important cancer hallmarks. In fact, overexpression of several DUBs is associated with cancer hallmarks such as invasion and metastasis, and also worse prognosis in patients.
In this project, we preclinically assess the potential of a novel therapeutic strategy by targeting these DUBs in combination with an FDA-approved first line tyrosine kinase inhibitor (TKI). Our in vitro data already show that DUB inhibition can significantly enhance the efficacy of TKIs in killing HCC cells as the combination treatment displays strong synergy. Currently, I am validating this synergy using an in vivo orthotopic xenograft HCC mouse model established within the group of my co-promotor. The final objective is to lay the groundwork for clinical trials involving DUB inhibitors, thereby advancing treatment options for patients with advanced HCC.
Contact & links
- Lab address:
- VIB-UGent Center for Medical Biotechnology, FSVM II Onderzoeksgebouw, Technologiepark-Zwijnaarde 75, 9052 Gent
- UZ Gent, Corneel Heymanslaan 10, entrance 36, 9000 Ghent - Gut Liver ImmunoPharmacology Unit
- Kylian Decroix is interested to receive invitations for presentations or talks