Press

In the third quarter of 2026, the Wilhelm Sander Foundation approved funding for 16 research projects totalling 2,824,168 euros. These range from the targeted induction of ferroptosis in pancreatic cancer, through new immunotherapies for leukaemias and lymphomas, to gentler radiotherapy techniques. Funding is being provided for projects that fundamentally elucidate the mechanisms underlying cancer development and resistance to treatment, and which use these findings to derive new diagnostic and therapeutic approaches.

Ovarian cancer often responds well to chemotherapy at first, but usually returns in a chemoresistant form. A team led by Dr. Ricardo Coelho at the University Hospital Basel now shows that combining the investigational drug birinapant with standard chemotherapy kills significantly more cancer cells than chemotherapy alone. Surprisingly, this enhanced effect depends on immune cells within the tumor, known as macrophages, which send out a signal that further boosts the effect of the treatment. In the future, the findings could help predict which patients will benefit most from this therapy. The Wilhelm Sander Foundation supported the project with €134,000.

Rhabdomyosarcoma is the most common soft-tissue tumour in children. It is a tumour of mesenchymal origin that closely resembles skeletal muscle cells. Two types are classically distinguished: alveolar and embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma. Both tumour types have in common that differentiation into postmitotic skeletal muscle cells is inhibited although they have the general capability for myogenic differentiation. Differentiating proliferating tumour cells into differentiated, non-dividing myotubes or muscle fibres could represent a new supportive approach in the treatment of rhabdomyosarcoma. A group of researchers led by Julia von Maltzahn at the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus-Senftenberg (BTU) and the Leibniz Institute on Aging (FLI) have found a way to convert embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma cells into differentiated postmitotic muscle cells. The Wilhelm Sander Foundation supported this project with EUR 185,000.

Small-cell lung cancer is one of the most aggressive forms of cancer. Tissue samples are rare, making realistic mouse models indispensable. Researchers led by Thorsten Stiewe at Philipps University of Marburg have developed a model in which CRISPR gene-editing technology switches off individual genes directly in the lung, thereby generating tumours. A fluorescent signal in the blood makes them detectable: just a few drops are enough to track their growth – month after month, without the burden of anaesthesia. Gene by gene, it becomes clear which natural brakes must fail and where new therapies can be targeted. The Wilhelm Sander Foundation funded the project with €154,280.

Whether a tumour is particularly aggressive often determines the correct treatment – until now, this could usually only be determined by means of an invasive tissue sample. A research team led by Prof. Dr Jan Peeken and Johannes Kiechle at the University Medical Centre of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has now developed an AI method designed to answer this question directly using CT and MRI scans. The Wilhelm Sander Foundation funded the project with around 181,000 euros. The results have now been published in the journal *Medical Image Analysis*.

In the second quarter of 2026, the Wilhelm Sander Foundation approved funding for six research projects totalling 1,020,184 euros. These range from the molecular regulation of treatment resistance, through the classification of rare TP53 variants, to new immunotherapies for breast, liver and lung cancer. Funding is being provided for projects that fundamentally elucidate the mechanisms of tumour development and derive therapeutic approaches from them.

Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers among men worldwide. However, in the case of advanced, metastatic tumours, there is often a lack of precise tools for planning individualised radiotherapy treatments. A research team led by Dr Constantin Mamat from the Institute for Radiopharmaceutical Cancer Research at the Helmholtz Centre Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) has now tested a novel diagnostic approach that combines two imaging techniques and could pave the way for highly personalised radiotherapy. The Wilhelm Sander Foundation funded the study with 166,000 euros. The results were published in the *Journal of Medicinal Chemistry*.

Die Wilhelm Sander-Stiftung bringt mit WILHELM ein eigenes Magazin heraus, das künftig einmal jährlich erscheint. Den Auftakt macht die Jubiläumsausgabe zum 50-jährigen Bestehen der Stiftung.

Which research projects are given a chance? And why? This is the question the Wilhelm Sander Foundation has been asking itself since its foundation 50 years ago. The independent foundation, headquartered in Neustadt an der Donau with offices in Munich and Leverkusen, supports cutting-edge medical research with a particular focus on cancer research in Germany and Switzerland. The foundation was established from the estate of the Franconian entrepreneur Wilhelm Sander. Since 1975, the foundation has provided around 350 million euros in funding for 2,700 research projects. On 19 June 2026, the foundation will celebrate its anniversary in the auditorium of the Deutsches Museum in Munich. Its sights are firmly set on the future of research funding.

Glioblastomas are highly aggressive brain tumours and are resistant to both conventional and targeted therapeutic interventions. Immune evasion is pronounced in glioblastomas, which complicates immunotherapy for most patients. Interferon-γ is a messenger substance used by immune cells to inhibit and kill cancer cells. Researchers led by Claudio Giachino from the Department of Biomedicine at the University of Basel now have evidence that the activity of the Notch signalling pathway makes certain subtypes of glioblastoma more sensitive to interferon. The Wilhelm Sander Foundation supported the project with approximately €165,000.